Kantai Collection Z
by CV12Hornet
Summary: Last time on Kantai Collection Z... The Director has been foiled once again, this time by Nagato and seven other extraordinary shipgirls. The leader of the Abyssals has been in hiding ever since, leaving the war to its normal tempo. But when a set of mysterious objects of great power are scattered across the Pacific, enemies new and old gather to break that comfortable equilibrium
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** **This story was created after I did some serious pondering back in October about my complete failure to make progress on my last non-drabble fic, Inheritance. Which probably isn't continuing. Sorry, fans of that story. Anyway, I came to the conclusion that it was both too serious and too ambitious, length-wise. What I needed was something shorter and lighter, and that's when the idea for this came to me. I mean, I'd already been injecting plenty of DBZ into Things Not Allowed. Honestly, I'm not sure how well I succeeded on the "less serious part", but hey, it's done and I'm reasonably happy with it.**

 **And if you're wondering why this is only getting published now when it was conceived in October (and isn't that long, as you'll eventually see), well, first I had to scrap an entire 20,000-word rough draft and rewrite it from the ground up, at which point the holidays hit. You know how it is. Regardless, it's here, it's complete, and it's finally getting posted.**

 **Also, this is based heavily on my Things Involving Shipgirls That Are No Longer Allowed drabble fic. Just a heads-up.**

 **Enjoy!**

Nagato panted, the action pulling at aching muscles and creaking ribs. Blood dripped down from small wounds on her head and arms, and she resisted the urge to reach up and wipe at the former. Part of that resistance was thanks to the fatigue that pulled at her, threatening to drag her down and not let her up. Overall, Nagato wasn't sure how much longer she could keep fighting, nor how long she could maintain the golden flames of her Super Nagamon form.

On the plus side, though, her opponent didn't look to be in much better condition. The Director's lab coat was askew, the slacks and shirt underneath torn and burned in random spots. Her ponytail had come undone, spilling her crimson locks every which way. And she, too, sported a collection of small wounds, one that Nagato hoped was as extensive as hers and simply covered up by the Director's more extensive clothing.

Their battle had been long and hard, as evidenced of the devastation of the area around them, and it seemed destined to go on for a while longer.

"I'll admit…" the Director panted. "I'm impressed. You've proven immune to all my fast takedowns, and highly resistant to brute force. As such, I'm willing to let you go, alive, if you leave immediately."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Nagato replied, smiling grimly. "Your war machine threatens the entire world. _You_ threaten the entire world. So, unless _you_ give up, I'm not going anywhere."

This whole fight was a result of recent intel acquired on a project the Director had apparently devoted the majority of her resources to. Further digging had revealed a colossal flying battleship capable of raining shell and missile death to every corner of the world, damn near invincible to what anyone could throw at it thanks to an array of advanced defensive goodies.

Naturally, Yokosuka had marshalled its resources to go smash the thing before it was completed, and alerted San Diego to the problem, though the Americans were a good day behind. They had been met by the expected large Abyssal fleet, and eight specific shipgirls had charged in to complete the mission.

Nagato was one of them, and had made a beeline straight for the Director to tie her up. That delaying action lessened in importance when it became clear that the woman hadn't realized that she had seven other shipgirls in her base, but that just meant the battleship had to keep the ignorance going.

"You _know_ defeating me won't stop my battleship!" the Director shouted in frustration. "Why do you persist, dammit?!"

And there, an opening to land a perfect verbal blow. Not Nagato's specialty, but this opening was big enough a blind monkey could have hit it.

"Because I choose to," she smirked.

The Director blinked stupidly, once, twice. "Did you just… of all things…" Her face twisted from confusion into blinding rage, and she launched herself at Nagato. "DIIIIIIEEEEE!"

Now openly grinning, Nagato jumped back to open up some space, and prepared to weather the new assault. Worth it!

~o~

The drydock where the battleship was being finished in was located a good mile from the command center Nagato and the Director were steadily wrecking. But it was not exempt from combat. Battles raged on its decks and on its bridge as the shipgirls that had slipped the blockade attempted to press forward, and the Abyssals manning the ship attempted to throw them back. Overall, the shipgirls were winning, if only slightly. They hadn't been thrown off the ship yet. They were also losing, as the battleship that was the entire point of the attack was still intact.

Sendai intended to change that.

With the Abyssal defenders mostly occupied with the ongoing combat on the superstructure, the light cruiser had been afforded all the opportunities she could ever want to gain access to the interior. After that, it was merely a matter of sneaking through the back halls and down ladders to find the reactor that powered this whole thing.

Already, she'd gone down one dead end checking to see if it was buried in the main superstructure somewhere, and now she was six decks down, dropping out of another floor hatch.

' _Jackpot,'_ she thought as she took in the glowing, torus-shaped hunk of machinery that dominated the massive compartment. It absolutely dwarfed the usual steam plants she was familiar with. It was also crawling with what seemed to be the Director's standard cannon fodder: six-legged scuttling things with the bullet-shaped bodies and single gun of I-class destroyers, just tougher, faster, with a bigger gun and bladed forearms. Nasty buggers.

They also didn't spot Sendai at first, which gave her time to duck behind an instrument panel, reach into one of the pouches at her waist, and pull out a pair of flashbangs.

' _Last ones,'_ she noted. ' _Gotta make 'em count.'_ Each of the devices was tossed to opposite ends of the reactor compartment for maximum coverage, and the destroyers only had time to glance at the devices before they detonated, delivering enough light and sound to fry optics and burst eardrums.

The destroyers went down, wailing in pain; Sendai, shielded by cover from the light and heavy-duty earplugs from the sound, bounded out from behind the machinery she'd been, and drew her sword. The blade flashed, slicing and stabbing the disabled destroyers, which put up no resistance.

However, there was the _other_ group of destroyers, a group that, despite destroyed eardrums, bounded around the reactor to get around her. Sendai reached into another pouch, and tossed caltrops, tensing her legs to jump. Unfortunately, the screech of another destroyer drew her eye up to one enterprising opponent that had climbed _over_ the reactor to jump down on her. Clever. But not clever enough.

' _Gotta time this just right,'_ Sendai thought as the destroyer descended. Finally, at just the right moment, she jumped up, the destroyer getting caught on her left-behind but still held scarf.

Sendai yanked the destroyer up close, pulling another item out of yet another pouch. This was a block of high explosives, one of several she'd commissioned from known pyromaniac USS Phoenix and brought with her for the mission. Frankly, it was more boom than she needed, but it paid to have extras. Like right now, where she could shove one of the explosives down the destroyer's gullet and then toss it down into the confused, milling crowd.

Boom. Dead. Sendai loved that kind of efficiency.

With the opposition now lying in pieces and/or bleeding puddles around the compartment, the ninja was now free to place the explosives at her leisure, calculated for maximum destruction. It was the work of a few minutes; such placement had figured very heavily in her shinobi training. Giving the explosives on last once-over, she quickly pulled back and behind one of the sturdy hatches leading out, holding the detonator in her hands. As sensitive as the explosives were, it was better to set them off with the detonator rather than rely on impact. Some exceptions aside.

Taking a deep breath, Sendai pressed the button. And then had one moment for a thought of ' _Dammit, Phoenix, you overdid it again…'_ before the stronger-than-expected explosion slammed into the hatch and blew it clear off its hinges, sending both it and Sendai down the hallway.

The reactor going up in a massive burst of star-hot plasma a moment later was just insult to injury. But hey, at least it wouldn't be powering anything anytime soon.

~o~

Inazuma, bleached white by the lightning wreathed around her, floated over the battlefield, her perceptions sped up so that everyone below were as still statues. That was the beauty of her full lightning form: speed. Unmatched speed. Shimakaze had been salty for _days_ when she found out.

Though… not _everyone_ was a statue. Tenryuu and Kiso, or rather their blades, were moving as if through molasses, both blades cleaving through the strange, powerful Abyssal destroyers that the Director seemed to not run out of. Around them were piles of corpses, their handiwork of the last fifteen minutes, and despite a collection of minor wounds, they seemed to be doing fine. Hell, they hadn't even pulled up their eyepatches yet!

Nodding, Inazuma turned back to the fight she was actually part of. Yuudachi and her opponent, a black-clad copy of Hoppo-chan, were moving as if in slow motion. All of them. And despite Yuudachi being wreathed in her black, dog-like battle aura, she was being pushed back. In the short time Inazuma had been watching, Yuudachi had ducked under a straight jab only to eat her opponent's foot to the chin. Inazuma winced; that was the third time that particular counter had worked.

Still, it left her next action very clear. Folding her legs, Inazuma shot forward, slamming her fist into the Hoppo-lookalike's cheek, and then zipped out again. Her opponent had only just started recovering from the blow when Inazuma zipped in again, using the fist that swung her way as a platform to launch a side kick into the Abyssal's face.

And then Yuudachi raked her claws across the Abyssal's gut, sending her careening into the superstructure.

Inazuma came down next to Yuudachi, not letting her guard down. They'd done that four times and Evil!Hoppo was still in full fighting condition. Yuudachi was not. Her breath came in ragged pants, and the arm that wasn't supporting her by way of knee was rubbing her bruised, split chin.

"You holding up, nanodesu?" Inazuma asked.

"I'll manage," the other destroyer muttered. " _If_ I can get through that damn armor of hers, poi."

"I've got an idea for that, nanodesu," the lightning destroyer replied. "Hold her off a little longer for me, please?"

Grinning, Yuudachi hauled herself to her feat as Evil!Hoppo hauled herself out of the wreckage of the superstructure. "No problem, poi!"

As the two clashed again, Inazuma zipped up… and up… and up. It was a simple attack, one she'd conceived of after her introductory physics class. If kinetic energy is the square of velocity times one half the mass… then she wanted as much speed as possible. Finally, ten thousand feet in the air, she turned over, and then sent all of her tremendous speed on a downward vector.

Much like lightning itself, her path branched and forked and then met Evil!Hoppo right as Yuudachi grabbed the Abyssal's fist and used the momentum involved to flip her onto her back.

"Strike!" Inazuma cried out, crossing her arms in front of her and then slamming down onto Evil!Hoppo.

The deck buckled under the impact, metal splintering and wood shattering. But still the Abyssal growled defiance at Inazuma, the installation's arms crossed as well. Still, this was not unexpected, and Inazuma reared back her hand, lightning crackling in the palm.

"Thunderflash!"

At this range, the thunderclap followed the visible light of the lightning bolt almost simultaneously. Wood splinters were set aflame, and the metal decking around the new hole Inazuma was now standing next to was glowing not red, but bright orange.

Panting, Inazuma skipped back to Yuudachi, carefully eyeing the hole.

"Don't think you got her, poi?" the blonde destroyer asked.

"Nope…" Inazuma replied. "Hopefully, I did some damage, nanodesu."

Sure enough, about ten seconds later a hand clad in a scorched and holed mitten clamped onto the crumpled metal, followed shortly by the rest of Evil!Hoppo. There was a smoking crater just below her sternum, but to the dismay of both destroyers that was the extent of the visible damage.

"Okay," Inazuma said, bringing her lightning aura back to life. "I'll be the dis-"

That was as far as she got before Evil!Hoppo appeared in front of her and rammed an uppercut into her stomach. The destroyer hacked up a gobful of blood, her torso folding around her opponent's fist, before Yuudachi swept in and with a whistling roundhouse kick forced the Abyssal to back off.

That left Inazuma to a. Get her breath back and b. Figure out how the hell that'd just happened.

' _She must have moved the instant I called up my aura!'_ she realized, coughing up another glob of blood. ' _How the hell did she figure out I'm vulnerable then?!'_

And while that knowledge wouldn't do the Abyssal any further good, Inazuma could feel the twinges where she'd been hit whenever she moved or breath, and bloody froth bubbled in her throat every time she breathed. It was manageable, and her damage control fairies were working on getting it under control, but it was time she and Yuudachi ended this fight before they were worn down and defeated.

That idea only gained urgency when Evil!Hoppo batted aside Yuudachi's closing claws and then Sparta-kicked her right in the chest back to Inazuma, where Yuudachi skidded to a halt on the decking.

"Tell me you have a plan, poi…" the destroyer groaned.

Inazuma did, in fact have a plan. Sort of. An idea, at the very least. None of that hedging was actually vocalized, of course.

"Yeah, but you're not going to like it, nanodesu."

"Anything's better than letting that bitch beat me up some more, poi…"

Inazuma began to shuffle nervously. "Yeah, about that, nanodesu…"

The expression that Yuudachi shot her partner's way was about a third betrayal, a third incredulity, and a third pained resignation. "How long, poi?" she groaned as she hauled herself to her feet.

"One minute, nanodesu" Inazuma answered, eyeing Evil!Hoppo as she reran her hasty guesstimates. "Though I don't know why she hasn't attacked us yet…"

[You'd simply deflect me,] Evil!Hoppo stated, the first words she'd said all fight.

Inazuma mulled that over. "That's a good reason, nanodesu," she decided. "Yuudachi, you up for this?"

Grumbling under her breath, Yuudachi rolled her neck, getting a few vertebrae pops. "Yeah. Let's do this, poi."

Crouching down, Yuudachi growled, deep and throaty and accompanied by an intense look of concentration on her face. Her battle aura sprang to life, but where before it was almost an outline, this time it spread across her, obscuring her completely. Soon enough, there was a black dog in place of Yuudachi, a dog that howled and launched off the ground at Evil!Hoppo.

Sighing, the Abyssal lazily shifted to let the beast shoot past her and readied her foot. She was not expecting the dog - no, Yuudachi - to plant a foot and bodyslam the Abyssal, followed promptly by a powerbomb into the decking.

All of this was simply noise to Inazuma. The destroyer had closed her eyes and shut out the outside world, her senses drifting inward. The lightning was always there, just waiting to be pulled. She never ran out of it; she just ran out of some other, more mysterious energy used to buffer it from frying her.

As such, she couldn't just yank what she needed out of that source; it needed to be trickled in, though by now the word "trickle" was a bit inadequate a word.

The point being, power built within her second by second, flowing out into her arms and into cupped hands, but not released yet. It wouldn't do to reveal her plan - such as it was. Could "Build up lots of energy and blast opponent with it" really qualify as a plan?

In any case, about a minute later, Inazuma opened her eyes again, immediately wincing as Evil!Hoppo slammed Yuudachi face-first into the deck, burying her up to her waist and knocking her out of her battle aura.

No matter. Inazuma knew she was faster, even as Evil!Hoppo turned to face her, eyes widening.

[How did you-!] the Abyssal began, and then Inazuma was up in her face, ball of lightning in her hands and pressed to Evil!Hoppo's belly.

"THUNDER FORCE!"

This was no mere lightning bolt. This was a ravening beam of plasma crackling with electrical energy. It engulfed Evil!Hoppo, then disintegrated another chunk of the increasingly abused superstructure, and then extended on to the horizon. All the while, Evil!Hoppo, still engulfed by the beam, screamed in a furious combination of anger and pain.

Of course, she was utterly inaudible over the Thunder Force, and so Inazuma paid it no mind when she cut the power and bent over, panting. After about half a minute, her breath slowed enough that she felt up to staggering over to where Yuudachi was still planted like the world's oddest daikon radish. Grabbing the destroyer's ankles, she gave a hard tug, and Yuudachi popped out, eyes spinning and blood dripping from several fresh head wounds.

"Make the world stop spinning, poi…" she groaned.

"Oh, good, you're alive, nanodesu," Inazuma sighed in relief, before collapsing onto the deck, Yuudachi falling on top of her. "Hey, Yuudachi, get off of me."

"Don' wanna…" the other destroyer groaned. "Make me…"

Inazuma would have loved to, but the fact of the matter was that she was exhausted, and with her adrenaline ebbing her stomach wound was making itself known again. No, her body did not want to move beyond the necessary involuntary stuff.

"I'll wait, nanodesu…"

~o~

Tenryuu grinned as she skewered another Abyssal destroyer under the chin with her sword, using it to batter back several more destroyers before flicking it off. The source of her grin was the lightning beam she could see out the corner of her eye that had to have come from Inazuma. Yes, make your momboat proud!

"Do the dorky momboat thing later!" Kiso snapped, the other light cruiser hacking three destroyers apart in three quick moves. "Fight now!"

"Did I say that out loud?" Tenryuu called over, flushing in embarrassment.

Unfortunately, Tenryuu had picked a bad time to get distracted. Despite the stacks of their brethren littering the deck, the unrelenting tide of modified Abyssal destroyers hadn't, well, relented, and so both light cruisers had been forced to slowly but steadily give ground. They still had plenty of space, of course, but they also had very little margin for error in the short term.

The point being, Tenryuu paid for her lack of attention by a shell that smacked into her left shoulder and spun her out of position. She was promptly dogpiled by several destroyers, Kiso biting back a curse.

One destroyer got skewered very quickly. Another took a 5.5" shell to the face. That still left their bodies pressing down on Tenryuu, and a half-dozen of their fellows snapping their jaws and arm-blades at her. If any of them got the presence of mind to actually fire their guns…

' _Got no choice,'_ Tenryuu decided, wriggling an arm free to pull up her eyepatch. Below it was not an organic eye, or an array of scarring as some speculated, but a strange mechanical eye whose mechanisms were beginning to move. The little central lens focused, and Tenryuu lifted her head up to get a better angle. "Take this!" she shouted. "Final Beaaaaaaam!"

Sure enough, an energy beam leaped out, blowing a neat hole through most of the Abyssals on top of her. It then went on to blow progressively less neat holes in just about every Abyssal behind them.

That left one alive hanging onto her, and it was a simply matter of just punching it square on the schnozz and then stabbing it when it recoiled.

"Black Cross!"

Tenryuu grinned as Kiso unleashed a flurry of slashes that neatly obliterated every Abyssal in the area, her own eyepatch removed to reveal a mostly-normal eye. "Glad you could join the party, Kiso!" she shouted, hacking another Abyssal in two.

"You still lifted it first, so don't get all smug on me!" Kiso shot back. "Let's finish this! Edge End!"

At those words, Kiso held her sword out at her right side and pushed off the deck, speeding forward. As she did so, she brought the sword forward, blade cleaving through a destroyer… and then another… and then another. And so it went until Kiso had cut a swathe through to the end of the destroyer mob, whereupon she made a discovery.

"Hey!" she shouted. "The mob ends!"

"Show-off," Tenryuu muttered. "Go guns?"

"Go guns!"

Bringing up their guns, the two light cruisers unleashed a blistering crossfire. Their fairies would start keeling over from exhaustion in about five minutes, but at this range they couldn't miss, and the hail of shells did an excellent job disrupting the mob.

Unfortunately, said mob collectively decided that the best way out of the crossfire was to attack. And it _was_ the best way out; Tenryuu cut down one before getting swamped, and from the yelps from Kiso's end it was the same situation there, too.

Once again, the destroyers lacked the presence of mind to use their guns, but this time Tenryuu couldn't escape their teeth or bladed arms. Both bit into her, drawing blood in a dozen spots.

And then something crashed down. Tenryuu couldn't see what. Too many Abyssals in the way. But the pressure did subside, and she took the opportunity to shake off and kill the last destroyers.

Once she was out, Tenryuu could see what had bailed them out: namely, Inazuma and Yuudachi tearing the Abyssal destroyers several superfluous new assholes each, which left Tenryuu somewhat conflicted. Proud on the one hand for the bang-up job they were doing, and jealous on the other for kill-stealing. Pride won out, and she also noticed that both destroyers were looking thoroughly battered.

Not that Tenryuu was in great shape either, she was starting to realize now that she had a chance to actually _breathe_. Her muscles were screaming at her to stop, and blood flowed freely all over her body.

Soon enough, all the Abyssal destroyers were dead, Yuudachi was pulling Kiso out of a pile of her own dead enemies, and Inazuma had collapsed onto her back again. With the destroyer now still, Tenryuu could see the blood that leaked a bit from her mouth with every breath, and the quivering in her limbs that indicated exhaustion.

The latter was a familiar feeling, not least because Tenryuu was feeling it herself. Heaving out a deep breath, the light cruiser sat down on the deck next to Inazuma with less grace than she'd hoped for, sending a wan grin Inazuma's face. "Did you win?"

"Yeah…" Inazuma panted.

"Good girl," Tenryuu said, leaning over to rub Inazuma's head. The destroyer let out an odd little whine, and leaned her head in closer.

She was still doing that when Yuudachi and Kiso limped over, the former looking jealous.

"No fair, poi!" she protested. "I wanna get headpats, too!"

Unfortunately, her body picked that moment to give out, and failed to tell her legs, with the result that as she fell on her face her waist simply bent, leaving her face-first on the ground with her ass in the air. Kiso just collapsed in a heap.

Wordlessly, Tenryuu reached over and began to rub Yuudachi's head, the destroyer also letting out a whine of contentment. The quartet stayed like that for several minutes before a loud roar made itself known. Tenryuu, being half-upright, spotted it first: a massive plume of fire and smoke a few hundred feet forward of their position on the quarterdeck, one that promptly disgorged an absolutely colossal missile clawing for altitude.

It had barely cleared the deck, when, with a flash of light, a brown-and-white blob stuck to its side. And then, seconds later, it vanished, followed shortly by a colossal mushroom-cloud explosion on the horizon.

"Kongo…" Tenryuu breathed. With her hands occupied, her teeth ground together. "You'd better be alive, you crazy woman…"

~o~

The bridge had been another priority for the attacking shipgirls. Just in case Sendai's drive towards the reactor failed, they could at least sufficiently fuck up the bridge and prevent it from leaving if it was operational. Plus, it was supposed to be an easy target.

As it turned out, the ship was not operational, Sendai succeeded in her mission, and the bridge was _not_ an easy target. At all.

' _I'll need to have_ words _with Intelligence after this,'_ Ashigara muttered in her head, resisting the urge to wipe blood from her brow. That was from colliding headfirst with the ship's wheel, and the culprit was the Supply Depot Princess about twenty feet in front of her.

Of course, said Princess wasn't unscathed, either. She was favoring her right side after Ashigara had landed a glancing blow on her side with the spectral wolves she liked to wrap her fists in, and her face was a similar mosaic of bruises and contusions as Ashigara's felt like.

The Supply Depot Princess moved first, rushing forward and swinging one of her massive fists in a head-cracking hook. Ashigara ducked under the swing, called upon her wolves and lashed out with an uppercut of her her own.

When the Abyssal grinned down at her, Ashigara realized she'd made a mistake.

[FUS!]

The heavy cruiser grunted in pain as the powerful shout slammed her into the decking, denting it, and mentally she cursed the sonic technique. She could've finished this fifteen minutes ago without it!

Recriminations could wait, though, as Supply Depot Princess opened her mouth again. Ashigara drove her fist into the metal below her, allowing the recoil force to throw her out of the way of the shout. Spinning, she landed in a three-point stance, right as her opponent showed up her own fist reared back. Ashigara evaded by hastily standing up, and with Supply Depot Princess bent over and wrist-deep in the deck, the cruiser took the opportunity to slam her fists into the Abyssal's back and send _her_ into the decking for a change.

Unfortunately, Ashigara's followup, a wolf-wreathed fist, merely punched a hole in the metal, not the Abyssal, who had rolled out of the way. This was the pattern of the fight: a back and forth slugging match that neither of them could gain a decisive advantage in. And at this point, Ashigara knew she would have to try something risky to gain that decisive advantage.

Problem is, risk was a bit anathema to her these days. Being lovers with a supply officer and thus hearing the logistical side of all sorts of "daring" maneuvers would do that to a girl.

But at this point safe was simply an invitation to die the death of a thousand cuts. She needed to do _something_ to get out of this rut.

Slowly, Ashigara scanned over the bridge, which they'd done a good job wrecking between them. Smashed consoles, crumpled instruments, plenty of holes in the deck below-

Hello. There's an idea. Calling up her wolves again, Ashigara raised her fist, Supply Depot Princess tensing in anticipation - and then she brought it down on the deck, shattering it utterly.

Ashigara, expecting it, was able to land feet-first on the deck below them and avoid any falling debris debris. Supply Depot Princess was _not_ expecting it, and so slammed face-first onto the metal with all the grace of a newborn donkey.

Seizing her chance, Ashigara sprinted forward, her wolves covering both fists. Her Abyssal opponent had just stood when Ashigara swiped the wolf across her chest, shredding the sweater Supply Depot Princess wore and opening bloody rents in her chest. And the heavy cruiser followed that up by slamming her other wolf-covered fist into her opponent's gut, shredding more flesh.

And yet despite the damage, Ashigara's instincts screamed at her, screaming that was proven right when Supply Depot Princess grabbed her by the wrist, jumped up, and slammed down to the deck, Ashigara squashed between the metal decking and the Abyssal's butt.

[FUS!]

Another sonic attack did the job of stunning Ashigara further, and then Supply Depot Princess just laid into her, punch after punch raining down on the heavy cruiser's face. Gritting her teeth, Ashigara positioned her arm to take some of the blows and then snaked her foot up to the Supply Depot Princess' chest. Once in position, her foot lashed out, force and pain from the shoe heel digging into her wounds driving Supply Depot Princess back.

Once again, the two combatants staggered to their feet. Once again, the stalemate remained unbroken, just with more damage piled on top. Supply Depot Princess was bleeding from dozens of small cuts all over her torso, while Ashigara felt like she'd been worked over with a meat tenderizer from the neck up. Worse, her grand risky plan had… not failed, exactly, but it hadn't gotten the results she wanted, that's for damn sure.

Not for the first time, Ashigara cursed her lack of a ranged option other than her guns, which she couldn't risk in this confined space; besides, she had a feeling Supply Depot Princess could dodge them. The heavy cruiser _had_ been working on a ranged version of her wolves, but she'd been stuck for a solid month on figuring out how to project the damn things.

' _Well, no time like the present,'_ she decided as Supply Depot Princess tired of waiting and went on the attack. Cupping her right hand into a claw, she mimicked throwing a softball underhand, and prayed, _willed_ with all her might that it would work.

It did.

It was hard to tell who was more surprised. Certainly not the wolf, which let out a gleeful howl before hitting Supply Depot Princess in the chest and then exploded in a ball of blue flame.

"Huh, wasn't expecting that," Ashigara muttered, eyeing her hands. Looking up, she took in her opponent, who was scorched and dazed. Flexing her fingers, she called up a wolf and then punched in the direction of the Supply Depot Princess.

The wolf leaped off her arm and onto Supply Depot Princess. Just before it exploded, Ashigara caught sight of the Abyssal's "100% done with this shit" expression, and had to fight not to giggle.

Time to finish this. Sprinting forward, Ashigara crouched low to avoid a counterattack. None came; her uppercut was unopposed this time, and the wolf leaped off and grabbed Supply Depot Princess in its jaws with no trouble. It just managed to get back into the bridge before exploding.

Down below, Ashigara had discovered the downside to her new attack: it took _lots_ of energy. The heavy cruiser had slumped to her knees, panting, and she could only hope that last wolf had done it, because she wasn't producing any more.

Eventually, her breathing stabilized, and she could climb back up into the bridge. What should've been a simple pull-up ended up requiring a full half-minute of effort, which only made it even more of a relief that Supply Depot Princess was slumped against what was left of the wheel when Ashigara finally pulled herself up, the Abyssal scorched black and clearly unconscious. A glance around the room confirmed that it was pretty thoroughly wrecked.

"Well, now what?" she wondered aloud.

A colossal noise shook the bridge from the rear, and Ashigara cursed the lack of rear windows. Gritting her teeth, she jumped for the fore windows, broke through, and just caught a glimpse of a massive missile out the corner of her eye before it vanished and was replaced by a massive explosion on the horizon.

"Kongo…" she breathed as she landed.

~o~

Kongo, upon arrival at the Director's big dock, had not chosen a specific target like the rest of the strike team, and had not run into any major enemies. Instead, she'd made her own entry into the ship and just inflicted random havoc while while she explored the bowels of the ship, one ear on her radio in case anyone needed her help. Destroyers swarmed her, but quick teleports, superior physical strength, and judicious use of Type 3 shells meant they just died in droves.

Idly breaking another conduit, Kongo rubbed her chin. Where to go next?

"Eenie meenie miney _you,"_ the battleship said, finger landing on a random hatch. She marched up to it, and lashed out with a kick that crumpled the metal and sent it flying in.

Entering, Kongo froze at the sight inside. She'd seen The Hunt for Red October; she knew what a ballistic missile silo complex looked like. Briefly, she wondered what was in the warheads, and quickly decided that that wasn't really important. Letting one of these launch and land would be catastrophic either way.

On the plus side, if they stopped this battleship, none of them would ever fire, so really, the mission hadn't changed.

That thought lasted as long as it took for the familiar roar of rocket engines to fill the compartment. Kongo hastily teleported onto a catwalk above the deck, and good thing, too, because one of the rockets shuddered and began to rise, flames licking at the spot where she'd been two seconds ago.

~o~

"None of this matters!" the Director roared, her fists landing indiscriminately against Nagato's raised arms. "Not you fighting me! Not your pathetic friends smashing up my battleship!" The redheaded woman grinned savagely at the surprised look on Nagato's face. "Oh, yes, thought I'd missed that, huh? Buying time, huh? Well, like I said, it doesn't matter! This ship can rain death and destruction on the entire world right from this dock!"

Suddenly, the assault on her arms ended, and Nagato very gratefully lowered them, seeing the Director jump back and reach for a button. Her instincts screamed, and Nagato heeded them, throwing a quick energy blast towards the Director. Unfortunately, the Director's finger had less space to cross, and by the time the energy ball reached her the button had been pressed.

That the ball was deflected up and away was just salt in the wound.

"Behold!" the Director grandiosely declared as flame rose above the deck of the nearby battleship, followed by a long, oblong object. "This vessel's greatest weapon! A rocket of unprecedented range, that can-"

"It's an ICBM," Nagato interrupted. "Humans have been able to build those for fifty years."

" _SHUT UP!"_ the Director screeched. "The missile's not important! What's in it is! A warhead as powerful as a nuke that spreads a poison a hundred times worse than radiation! Entire swathes of the world will be-!"

Nagato blurred from sight, and with her ranting the Director only noticed when the battleship's fist landed square in her schnozz, effectively shutting her up.

Still, as the battle resumed, Nagato's thoughts were troubled. For all that she had taunted the Director about old tech, it was very _effective_ old tech. And the distant explosion rocking the ship didn't help.

But she couldn't do anything about that. She needed to focus on the opponent in front of her, and bring her down.

~o~

From her new vantage point atop the lip enclosing the missile silo, Kongo watched as the just-launched missile clawed for altitude. Something needed to be done with it; ABM, as unreliable as ever, was hamstrung by reduced funding in this day and age. The Abyssals didn't use ballistic missiles, after all, and there was only so much money and production capacity to go around.

The point being, there was very little chance of whoever had just been targeted bringing it down, even disregarding any countermeasure goodies the Director had packed into it.

All of this and more ran through Kongo's head; quick calculations on relative speeds, and flight profiles, and other things. Gritting her teeth, she folded space as she had long since learned to do, and vanished from the lip of the missile tube.

She reappeared on the body of the missile, and hastily punched two handholds in the rocket, though the wind still threatened to tear her off the missile. And the air was becoming noticeably thinner already.

The missile needed to go down. Now. Kongo shifted the position of her hands, and then _pulled_. With a shriek, the thin metal of the missile body tore up and down. The fuel tanks, still burning, promptly broke apart from the rest of the missile and went spiralling away; the upper part, containing the warhead and a Kongo still desperately clinging to it, spiralled down and away towards the sea.

Deep inside her, something screamed to Kongo that she did _not_ want to be there when the warhead did collide with the sea, and made a hasty, barely-calculated teleport out. She popped back into existence over a dozen miles away - right as the missile hit the water, exploding gaudily. Kongo, sadly, caught the edge of the blast wave, and was thrown back, somehow landing onto and through the visible deck of the battleship she'd just been on.

It hurt. A lot.

But all the pain in the world couldn't mask the explosion that blossomed out of the aft control station, highlighting a figure in the hole left behind.

Nagato.

Groaning, Kongo hauled herself to her feet, and began to limp towards that position.

And nor was she the only one. Tenryuu, Kiso, Inazuma, and Yuudachi had just been getting to their feet on the quarterdeck when something flew over their head, almost simultaneous with the explosion. Nobody said anything. They just began walking. Ashigara had already been on the way. The explosion simply confirmed her route. And Sendai was roused from the bout of unconsciousness she'd been dealing with deep in the bowels of the ship. That she started walking towards the source had, in her case, more to do with being mildly concussed than anything else.

~o~

And as for the Director, she was actively having to stave down panic. She knew her ship was crippled, her two best subordinates making tracks for underwater panic holes to recover, and that the missile that had been her only shot had exploded over a harmless patch of water. Worse, getting close to Nagato again after sending her flying had proven a grievous mistake; the battleship was _not_ letting her get anywhere near, attacking the Director with a new ferocity and not budging from hand-to-hand range. And the energy blast that had sent Nagato flying in the first place had _already_ been a desperation move.

"Playing for distance, huh?" Nagato shouted as she pressed the attack. "You're getting desperate, Director!"

The Director gritted her teeth as she caught Nagato's straight punch on her increasingly abused forearms, and had to fight to not scream when the blow cracked a bone. A side kick in retaliation was batted down, and she barely caught the same move from Nagato before it slammed into her side.

Worse, Nagato pulled it back and turned it into a straight kick the Director barely caught - the first time. And the second time. And the third. But the fourth went through, hitting her straight on the sternum.

And that was her opportunity. The redhead grabbed Nagato's ankle, and with a roar flipped her onto the deck. She got in one punch, and then Nagato's other foot slammed into her jaw. The two broke off, panting and evaluating.

It was then that someone kicked down the door to the room they'd been fighting in. In trooped seven other shipgirls: Sendai, Kongo, Inazuma, Yuudachi, Tenryuu, Kiso, Ashigara. Bleeding from a multitude of wounds, their legs shaking from exhaustion, their clothes in ruins - and yet, their eyes were hard, their body language screaming "fight!".

And once again, the Director searched her body and found it in little better condition. Not to mention Nagato was still there, and was presumably still able to match her blow for blow.

Oh, wait, Nagato was saying something.

"Give up, Director! You are outnumbered and-"

Suddenly, the Director turned on her heel and sprinted _away_ from the gathered shipgirls, something so unexpected nobody reacted until she'd busted through the window and out of sight. For a long moment, nobody said anything.

"So, did we win, poi?" Yuudachi asked.

"It looks like…" was Nagato's reply.

"Great…"

And with that, everyone except Nagato collapsed to the deck, and the battleship was seriously tempted herself. Still, the adrenaline, the _euphoria_ from both victory and her battle with the Director were the only things keeping her upright. She almost wished the battle hadn't ended...

~o~

"Ahhh!" Nagato gasped as she suddenly sat up in bed. For a few minutes, she sat there, catching her breath, and then heaved out a big one, one hand running through her hair.

"That dream again..." she muttered.

It had been almost a year since that battle in Antarctica. Afterwards, there had been proposals to form the eight of them into a proper unit, but they all had other commitments, and in any case, the war was still so fast-paced and dispersed that they were honestly more effective split up among the ever-changing task forces, most of the time.

And the war _was_ going on. The Director and her lieutenants had escaped, and they were continuing to release mobile Boss-type Abyssals into the Pacific and provide the two Empresses and the Singapore-based Harbor Princess with fresh forces.

Perhaps that was why Nagato periodically flashed back to that brutal battle in her dreams. This wasn't over, and sooner rather than later she'd need to call on the Super Nagamon for direct combat.

And yet, she desperately hoped that that wouldn't be necessary. To have her pure feelings for kawaii used in such a destructive manner - and worse, to enjoy it…

Power. Raw, incredible power washed over Nagato, and what had been probability crystallized into certainty. Soon, she'd need to fight, to call upon the Super Nagamon.

This power… it was the kind that drew others to it. And they could not let someone like the Director have it. And yet… somewhere in her she almost wanted to let the Director have it, if it meant not fighting in Super Nagamon form again.

~o~

And miles up in the stratosphere, at the center of that burst of power, there were seven diamond-shaped objects. Though they could not match that initial burst of energy, they too veritably thrummed with power. They hung in the air for a moment, and then in another, smaller burst of energy they scattered, flying to all corners of the Pacific Ocean.

This event was something that could not be missed. In Yokosuka, San Diego, Bremerton, Oahu, Singapore, Antarctica, Midway, those with power could feel the arrival, and knew what it portended. Even those outside the Pacific could feel it, though they could only make plans to assist their Pacific brethren.

And unnoticed by everyone, a darker, larger object split from the orbs, falling limply down to the ocean. It hit, still unmoving except by the forces of nature, and slowly, steadily sank down to the bottom of the ocean, where it came to a soft rest


	2. Chapter 2

Even with the events of the previous night, and her inexplicable conviction that it was something very important, Nagato was still surprised at how fast things moved. She'd barely finished getting dressed and showered that morning when Ooyodo knocked at her door, telling her to report to Admiral Goto's office. And, oddly, the secretary ship hadn't followed her, instead heading the other way, probably to retrieve someone else.

It didn't take long for the battleship to arrive at headquarters and make her way into the Admiral's office, finding Admiral Goto, Kongo, Tenryuu, Kiso, and Sendai already there, the Admiral sitting and the shipgirls standing scattered about.

"I'm assuming this is about the events of last night?" she asked.

Admiral Goto nodded, the light cruisers exchanged confused looks and Kongo huffed and fell into a cute pout. "My teitoku won't tell me what's going on!" she complained.

"And I told you, you'll have to wait for me to explain like everybody else," Goto calmly replied.

Silence fell, and Nagato leaned against the wall, feeling antsy. She wanted to be _out there_ , wanted to get whatever this was over with as soon as possible. And a look at the light cruisers showed they were feeling restless, too. Tenryuu and Kiso were tapping the hilts of their blades, eyeing each other with increasingly tight frowns, while Sendai had pulled out a kunai and was slowly - some might say _obsessively_ \- sharpening it.

Then Mamiya opened the door, wheeling in a dim sum-style cart, and the tension utterly evaporated.

"Breakfast, everybody!" the food ship announced. "I've got pastries, omelettes, and coffee. Feel free to help yourself!"

The smell coming from the cart could only be described as delectable, and Nagato's stomach took the opportunity to remind her of the usual morning hunger. As such, she was right behind the light cruisers in swarming the cart, grabbing one of the plastic forks and an omelette and taking a big bite. A delighted moan escaped her lips: the omelette was incredibly light and fluffy, streaked through with smooth spots of egg white and lightly and _evenly_ salted. Swallowing almost felt like a betrayal of her taste buds.

Once she had her mind back from the brain-melting taste, she glanced back at Kongo. "You're not eating?" she asked.

"Nah, I ate already," the battleship airily replied. "Enjoy!"

Mentally shrugging, Nagato returned to her omelette. She'd devoured it and two excellent muffins when Yuudachi walked in. Her nose and the two ear-like tufts of hair on her head all twitched, her entire demeanor perked up, and then she scampered over to the cart, taking some of the food herself.

Taking a deep bite of omelette, the destroyer exclaimed, "Mm, delicious, poi!" Nagato shuddered; it was all she could do to not grab the destroyer and hug her forever and ever. Taking and eating seconds of the omelette helped distract her.

Inazuma arrived next, and sheer ridiculousness stemmed the Nagamon this time. The battleship was too busy trying not to laugh.

Not everyone else was able to.

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tenryuu howled, Sendai and Kiso both descending into giggles next to her. "Didn't manage to dodge Tatsuta, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, nanodesu…" Inazuma sighed, adjusting the football helmet on her head. That done, she began to waddle towards the cart, pillows tied to her body with sturdy rope hampering her every movement.

Ashigara arrived last a couple minutes later with Ooyodo trailing behind, looking somewhat tired. Most of those present could guess what had gone on, and said nothing. Once again, the food provided an admirable distraction.

Soon enough, the food had been consumed, Mamiya and Ooyodo had decamped to the mess and outer office, respectively, and the eight-woman team had parked themselves in a semi-circle around Admiral Goto's desk.

"Alright, let's get started. Around two in the morning last night, NORAD detected a high-energy reaction in the stratosphere over the North Pacific," Admiral Goto began. "And then fifteen minutes later, the Yuubaris gave them a call to compare notes and track the emergence of seven objects from whatever event happened. Unfortunately, they were only able to get so much data before these objects, whatever they are, went to ground, so we still don't know what they are."

"And Nagato, Hoppo-chan told me that you woke up around when the event happened." The battleship's eyes widened slightly, and she nodded. "Is there anything you can add?"

"About the event itself? Nothing more than what the scientists were able to gather, I suspect." Taking a deep breath, Nagato closed her eyes and concentrated. It took almost a full minute, but an… awareness prodded itself into her consciousness. "I think I can detect the objects, though. And I believe I will be more sensitive to them if I can get closer."

"Good," Goto nodded. "Then your mission, all of you, is simple: find one of these objects, and bring it back here so we can figure out what the hell we're dealing with. We've gotten word from Dutch Harbor that they've found something that's probably one of these objects-"

"It is, if my navigation fairies have the direction right," Nagato interjected, eyes still closed.

"So that's where you'll be going first. Any questions?"

"Why has Japan been entrusted with this mission?" Ashigara asked. "I'd have thought the United States would have preferred to handle this, especially if some of these objects are on US soil."

"And why the eight of us, specifically?" Tenryuu added.

Goto smirked. "Oh, the US wanted to handle this, and China _really_ wanted them to handle this. Unfortunately for them, Phoenix and South Dakota are still on probation from their little stunt with the rocket in Mexico, so they don't really have the capacity to handle another Outside Context science problem." The smirk died away. "And as for why you eight… call it a gut feeling, but there are six more of these objects, and a lot of Abyssal factions who'd love to take them. This initial search might end up a milk run, but I doubt later ones will. And you did a good job working together when we raided the Director's headquarters last year."

Pausing, Admiral Goto waited for more questions. There were none.

"Excellent. Dismissed!"

~o~

Everyone scattered after that to set things in order. Tenryuu and Nagato needed to find someone to watch over their charges; Inazuma had to surreptitiously get her "safety gear" removed; and all had equipment to restock, repair, or simply bring to maximum efficiency.

Still, within an hour the team was ready and steaming north up the east coast of Honshu, waving hello to passing fishermen and sightseers. At a comfortable cruising speed of fifteen knots, it took some time to reach the Aleutians, and longer still to reach Unalaska, one of the more easterly islands and where Dutch Harbor was physically located.

The time was passed mostly by talking. Ashigara, Kongo, and Inazuma, connected as they were to command, were full of base gossip, carefully couched in "I heard"s and "maybe"s and "It's not confirmed, but"s. That was exhausted as they passed Hokkaido, at which point Tenryuu goaded Kiso into sharing stories of her domestic life with Hokaze. It only took ten minutes for the light cruiser to first attempt to melt into an embarrassed puddle, and Nagato took pity on her by cutting in with a story of her own about Hoppo-chan. For all that the little Abyssal was mostly converted to human, there were still little things that tripped her up in cute and funny ways. Like last week, when she'd first seen a chicken.

That brought in everyone else with stories about their sister ships and destroyer charges, and the result was a lively discussion on family - and plenty of bellyaching.

"- don't even get me started on Hibiki's drinking problem! She gets all grabby when she gets drunk!"

"These days I wish for that short black dress now. Some of the things Tatsuta's tried to force me into lately…"

"I'm really beginning to understand why Kitakami's such a bitch all the time, now that I've got a bit of outside perspective on the whole situation. But would it kill her to be a little _less_ bitchy?"

"Shiratsuyu discovered the We Are Number One music video, poi. _My life is hell."_

Everyone was laughing - a little nervously - at Yuudachi's spat statement when Inazuma suddenly held up a hand.

"Ssh."

Everyone fell silent, and now they could hear it: the sound of distant thunder. A sound every one of them had heard hundreds of times, and could identify on the spot.

Heavy gunfire. And lots of it.

"Well," Tenryuu remarked. "I guess Admiral Goto _was_ right to send us here. Orders?"

There was only a short pause before Nagato answered. "We're kicking it to flank. Sendai, head into the base, get the gem. If these are normal Abyssals, Kongo and I will provide long-range fire; if abnormal, we'll dive in with our full abilities. The rest of you?" She grinned. "Smash."

Nobody said anything. They just picked up steam and surged forward.

In the event, there _were_ just normal Abyssals brawling near the island. Normal Abyssals that were more fighting each other than the base's defenses, which were in all honesty rather minimal.

"Why're they fighting each other, poi?" Yuudachi wondered.

"Does it matter?" Kiso snapped. "Let's kill these guys and go home!"

Though these eight had not fought together in a year, the simple fact is that naval warfare, then as in every naval war, was sparse on big fleet battles and heavy on smaller actions involving two or three squadrons. And with the differing availability of the shipgirls, everyone in the fleet had by necessity become very used to improvised teamwork, on top of everyone working with everyone at some point.

As such, everyone moved almost instinctively into their roles. Kongo and Nagato slewed to starboard well away from the furball, their rigging springing to life and the massive gun turrets on it swinging out while their fire control crews read range data from their radar and began working on a firing solution. Inazuma shifted to her lightning form and sprinted in, circling the formation and flinging lightning bolts into the crowd. With so many ranged attacks screaming in, the Abyssals' already poor discipline cracked further, introducing sizable gaps in their screens as the destroyers flailed about in contradictory directions.

Into these gaps poured Yuudachi, Ashigara, Tenryuu, and Kiso. The destroyer and heavy cruiser fanned out, slamming into the Abyssals like bull elephants wrapped up in knives. Tenryuu and Kiso plunged further in, their swords blurs that severed heads and carved open torsos.

With such a magnificent distraction, it was no wonder that Sendai was able to steam around the battle and go straight to the island, and from there to Dutch Harbor itself. As she crested the last of the mountains ringing the mountain, she was met by a couple of sailors waving to her from the other side of the harbor.

"Oh thank god!" one of the two sailors said when she finished crossing said harbor. "We thought they were gonna kill us all!"

Sendai smirked. "Yeah, those Abyssals don't stand a chance. More importantly, we heard that you found one of the objects that showed up the other day?"

"Yeah, this way!" the other sailor said. "Anything to make the Abyssals less likely to attack us!"

The blatant unwillingness to fight made Sendai roll her eyes, but no more, and she still followed. Rear positions were important; that had been drummed into their heads sufficiently since being summoned. And not just because they were a good place to dump personnel wholly unsuited for the front lines.

Soon enough, they reached the site: a small crater, at the center of which was a small, diamond-shaped gem in a bluish purple color. Neither sailor seemed to want to go near it, but Sendai wasn't a squishy human being. She just walked into the crater, crouched down and picked it up, looking it over.

Obviously, it was a beautiful gem, with utterly flawless lines and a deep matte color. And, somehow, there was a feeling of… depth to the thing. Like she was looking into a portal to another world or something. For a moment, she felt like she was about to fall in.

Then the feeling passed, and the light cruiser stowed away the gem.

"Alright, now that we've got whatever-this-is, time for me to head back to the battle, and-"

All at once, the gunfire that had ebbed but not fully gone away went entirely silent.

"Aw, come on!" Sendai snapped, before sighing and beginning to walk back. "Anyway, see you guys later. Good luck with the cleanup."

~o~

Despite another salvo of 16" shells locked, loaded, and properly aimed, Nagato checked her fire; what few targets were left were too mixed up into their melee fighters to safely fire on them. And at this point, they didn't need the help. The battleship winced as Yuudachi carved open one of the hapless Abyssals from collarbone to crotch in one swipe of her claws. Yeah, her guns were overkill.

"Oh, I see Sendai!" Kongo called out.

Nagato followed her fellow battleship's gaze, and indeed, Sendai was steaming up to them, a grumpy look on her face.

"You guys could've left _one_ of them for me," she groused once she was in hearing range. "Anyway, I got the dingus. For all the fuss, I was expecting it to be bigger. Or more alien."

"Can I see it?" Nagato asked. Sendai nodded and pulled out the gem, handing it over.

"Ohh, pretty," Kongo remarked at seeing it. Nagato didn't reply; much like Sendai, she found that the object had remarkable _depth_ to it. Unbidden, a name came to mind.

"Soul Gems…"

"What?"

Shaken out of the… trance she was in, Nagato looked up at Kongo and Sendai, both of whom were looking at her with a mix of confusion and concern.

"They're… soul gems?" Kongo queried. "What are those?"

"I'm pretty sure she just thought that name up on the spot, Kongo," Sendai deadpanned. "I like it, though. Rolls off the tongue."

Nagato shook her head, putting the Soul Gem away. "No, that's what they're called. Don't ask me how I know that." Noting that the rest of the fleet had finished mopping up the Abyssals, Nagato sighed and gazed wistfully up at the clouds. Honestly, she was almost as happy to not have to use the Super Nagamon as she was at the victory.

This action did not escape either Kongo or Sendai. The battleship, for once, kept quiet, leaving Sendai to ask the obvious question.

"What's with the sad sighs, Nagato?" she asked. "We won! Easily, which I'm still not happy about."

"Don't be an idiot, Sendai," Nagato snapped. "This isn't over. This isn't even _close_ to over, and it won't be as easy as this. Not again."

"Jeez, sorry I asked…" Sendai muttered, turning and steaming away.

Nagato, for her part, sighed and ran her hand down her face. Where had _that_ come from? She wasn't prone to snapping at people. A hand alighted on her shoulder, and she glanced over it to see Kongo giving her a compassionate smile.

"Remember, my door's open if you need to talk," Kongo said, before grinning manically. "Let Auntie Kongo solve all your problems!"

A groan of exasperation worked out of Nagato's throat, and she felt her mood lighten a bit. Still, once the fleet reassembled and headed off back to Japan, Nagato let herself fall back and silently brood. Most of the fleet, flush with victory, was content to let her, and Kongo seemed willing wait for Nagato to come to her. The one exception was Tenryuu, who dropped back to where Nagato was.

"So, what's bothering you?" she bluntly asked.

There was a strong urge to tell Tenryuu that it was simply due to her knowledge that this whole quest would get harder down the line. There was an equally strong urge to just spill her guts; Tenryuu knew the feelings that went into the Super Nagamon. Surely she could help, tell her what path to take with the Super Nagamon.

Suddenly, she shuddered, a spike of raw _fear_ streaking through her. It passed quickly, but it was as good an excuse as any to put off a confession.

"Like I told Kongo, this isn't over," the battleship replied, just a hint of nerves in her voice. "And I've got a sudden feeling that it just got harder."

~o~

Harbor Princess eyed the screen in front of her, part of a kludged together visual conferencing system she was trying to spread to all the remaining Installation-class Abyssals, to some success. On said screen was Midway Princess, looking like she hadn't slept in three days, and an odd, beautiful, and quite familiar purple-blue gem. [So… you have one of them, too,] Harbor Princess mused.

 _[Y-Yes!]_ the other Installation confirmed. _[And unlike you, I can't hold out to a determined assault! The only thing saving my nuts is that Central Princess is still dicking around with_ negotiations _, and this is exactly the sort of thing to cut through that kind of red tape!]_

[Calm down,] Harbor Princess replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Midway Princess may have had an increasing tendency to descend into histrionics, but her position was sufficiently precarious to justify such an attitude. Didn't make it _pleasant_ , but the Abyssal could at least tough it out. [I've got more submarines than I know how to deal with, so I'll be transferring over a few dozen. I wish I could do more, but-]

 _[Yeah, they'll be coming for you, too. I get it. Thanks anyway.]_ A pause, where Midway Princess almost seemed to nod off, and then she shook her head. _[Anyway, do you know what these things are? And if we can use them somehow?]_

[I've got people working on it,] Harbor Princess said. [It's going to take time, unfortunately, and I suspect we're gonna be attacked long before then.]

 _[Yeah, I was afraid of that,]_ Midway Princess said a little hysterically. And with that, the other Installation signed off.

Sighing out through her nose, Harbor Princess leaned back, weighing the risks and rewards of this new development. She was tempted to punt the odd object out of her territory, let the Japanese have it, but the power… she could feel it even here, over a mile away from where they were keeping the gem. If they could tap into its power…

And there was the rub. For all the combat power at her disposal, Harbor Princess knew she didn't have the scientific resources to figure this out in any reasonable time. Even more so than she'd implied to Midway Princess. And no way was she going to the Director for this. Their relationship wasn't outright antagonistic - thank God, because that was not a fight she was winning - but it was strained and colder than the ice caps. No way the Director would do her a favor like this. Not with others of these gems out there for the redhead to grab herself.

So. Best to hold the status quo: keep the stone stored away behind all the unmanned security she could muster.

Still, she _could_ put her forces on alert. And in fact, she mused as she stood, she'd better do that immediately.

~o~

Down south, the Director looked through her goggles at the completion of her latest project. Something that could stand up to the exceptional fighters among the shipgirls. Previous attempts had failed, repeatedly, and after a lot of soul-searching in the wake of the loss of her battleship, she'd come to a conclusion.

She'd gotten stuck in a rut.

By that, the Director meant that she had focused too much on the Abyssals. Drawn from humanity's hate and pain and anger, they were thus near-limitless in number, but painfully limited in individual capability by the basic shipgirl template. There was only so strong you could make them without that human will to interact with the magic. To match one of the exceptional shipgirls, she needed to go beyond the Abyssal template.

In practice, that meant creating life, humanity, from nothing. A daunting task, to be sure, but one she relished as a new challenge. And now, finally, that challenge had produced the two figures lying in the pods she was looking over and ready to animate.

Grinning, she pulled a switch, arcane machinery humming to life. Glowing blue galvanic essence flowed down tubes and wires and into the chambers, quickly suffusing both the bodies within. The result was a blue glow that rapidly built in power until it obscured the contents within. At that point, the Director began counting in her head, and after seventy-five Mississippis, threw down the switch, and leaned back to wait.

CRASH!

She didn't have to wait long. A dark brown fist punched out of one of the chambers, followed by the rest of the body. Her new creation was tall, muscular, dark-skinned - and very, very male. Success!

Oh. Also, he was nude. The Director mentally slapped herself for forgetting about that.

[Ah…] he said. [You must be our creator.]

"I am," the Director said, before hurling a pair of jeans into his face. "Now put on some pants already!"

[Yes, mistress,] the man playfully said as he put on the pants.

[Aw, c'mon, don't I get some pants, too? Or do I have to wear a kilt?]

That would be the other of her creations, fair-skinned with jet black hair, but otherwise of identical build to his sibling. The Director tossed some pants at him, too.

"I've got clothes in the antechamber," she said. "Take your pick. When you're dressed, meet me back here so I can give you your mission."

[Yes, mistress!] the dark-skinned one barked, saluting, still with a wide grin on his face.

[Aye aye,] the other drawled.

Once both were out of the room, the Director sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Personality. Of course they had _personality_. And annoying personalities, too. Still, if they had the power she'd planned for them, that was a _very_ small price to pay.

About ten minutes later, the two walked out again, now fully dressed.

[So, while we were getting dressed we decided that we should have names,] the dark skinned one said. [I decided I'm gonna go by Truxtun.]

[And I'm Lee,] the other said. [So. Who do you want us to kill?]

Names. _Names._ For a moment, the Director saw red, and felt an urge to rend the flesh from their bones. But then the voice of her mentor intruded with the greatest lesson she'd ever been taught: respect your creations. Always.

Names were dangerous, but give them what they wanted, and they would stay _loyal_. That was the important part.

"Very well," she said. "A few days ago, seven objects appeared on this world. I managed to finagle a way for you to detect the unique energies they give off. I think."

[Huh, so that's what that is…] Lee mused. [I assume you want us to go retrieve them?]

"Yes. And I have reason to believe that Japan is sending their best shipgirls out to do the same." She smiled. "If you meet them, kill them. Though beware the one named Nagato; she's powerful enough to require both of you together."

[Yeah, yeah, we'll be careful,] Truxtun said dismissively, before hopping in place. [Oh, this is going to be _fun!]_

[It's not supposed to be fun, dumbass,] Lee shot back, though an amused grin had spread over his face. [Though you have a point. No one said we can't enjoy this.]

"Ahem."

The two turned towards their creator, who looked distinctly unamused.

"If you two could get going?" she said.

The two shared a glance, and then did so, and once they were out of sight the Director collapsed to the ground, vision swimming. Why yes, doing an all-nighter - or rather, five in a row - to rush completion of this project had consequences. Who knew?

~o~

And finally, deep on the ocean floor somewhere between Davy Jones' locker and the Marianas Islands, something stirred in the ocean muck. All that could be seen was a pair of glowing red eyes, but the normal denizens of the abyss had long since vacated the area, so there was nobody there to notice.

Light may have been anathema to them, but concentrated malevolence was far more of a problem.

Now that the creature had stirred, it paused, seemed to scent the water around it, and sped up and north. Its prize was near, it knew, and there was no one to stop it.

Not that anyone _could_.


	3. Chapter 3

Nagato blinked, eyes wide. "Excuse me?" she breathed.

"Hoppo-chan is currently in the repair docks," Akashi repeated, lips drawn in a grim line. "I'm fairly certain she fought someone - and lost. Badly."

The team's return to Yokosuka should have been triumphant, at least a little, no matter how premature it might have been. They'd clobbered the enemy with no damage taken and retrieved the Soul Gem, but being met by a grim-faced Akashi at the pier when they arrived a couple days afterward was enough to kill the good mood.

Being told that Hoppo-chan was in the repair docks recovering from a rather serious beating? That did more than kill the good mood. It killed it, then exhumed the body, raised it, killed it again, and then mutilated the body in grotesque and interesting ways for good measure.

Hearing the words repeated prompted Nagato to jerk towards the repair docks, muscles tensing. "Easy," Tenryuu said, holding a hand on the battleship's shoulder so she couldn't - or rather, given the horsepower disparity, _wouldn't_ \- just pull a runner. "I know. _I know_. Go to her. But she's going to be fine, and you won't help anyone by being overwrought."

Nagato turned a wild-eyed look on Tenryuu. The light cruiser stared back, her expression hard but somehow understanding at the same time. That was enough for the battleship to relax a little.

"I… thank you, Tenryuu," she said, eyes downcast. "Don't let me keep you from the debriefing. Kongo can handle my part in the battle."

"Nope!" Kongo chirped. "We're going with you! Hoppo-chan's our friend, too, and besides, we're probably all going to get a crack at whoever did this."

"I guess I'll get the gem to the Yuubaris, nanodesu," Inazuma sighed.

Plan set, Sendai handed over the Soul Gem, and as Inazuma vanished from sight the rest of the team followed Akashi towards the docks, Nagato fidgeting and trying to hide it at the same time. Despite her nerves, though, the battleship felt… lighter, than when she had heard the news. Oh, she was still worried, but the support of her fleetmates helped tremendously.

Then they actually got to the docks, and it was back to rock bottom.

Nagato fell to her knees next to the tub, taking in the sight of her ward. The little Abyssal was nude in the bath, as was the custom, displaying a patchwork of livid bruises and contusions and even a few small deformations. She was also unconscious and almost deathly still, only the rise and fall of her chest indicating that she was still alive.

The rest of the team, Inazuma just rejoined, stayed standing, various shades of anger written on their faces.

"Do we know who did this? And how?" Ashigara asked, her fists clenched at her side.

"No," Akashi sighed. "Haguro found her, right where the Yuubaris reported one of those objects-"

"Soul Gems," Kongo interjected.

"Uh, right…" Akashi skeptically replied. "Haguro found her near the last known location of one, thoroughly worked over. And the, uh, Soul Gem was gone."

"Define 'thoroughly worked over'," Kiso growled. "Is this medically induced unconsciousness, or-?"

"As in, she'd been physically beaten into unconsciousness. I'll save you the list of internal injuries."

Everyone silently digested that. The list of things that could do that to Hoppo-chan, an Installation-type Abyssal and thus one of the strongest things on the sea, was a short one. Very short. And all but the Director herself were accounted for, while the mysterious redhead was highly unlikely to do… well, anything mission-like herself.

Everyone included Nagato, had been listening with half an ear while she simply watched Hoppo-chan in the tub, having stroked the hair out of her closed eyes. Whatever it was that had done this, it would not stand against her. She would rip it to pieces, and-!

She flinched, quashing the anger. Yes, she loved Hoppo-chan, but using the Super Nagamon in anger… No. She couldn't do that.

[Nnh…]

"Hoppo-chan!" Nagato exclaimed. She was awake!

The little Abyssal shifted again, and then opened her eyes up at Nagato. [Nagato-mama…?]

"You're alright!" Nagato wailed, grabbing her ward into a hug. "I was so worried, I-!"

POW!

[That hurts!] Hoppo snapped as Nagato flopped onto her back, a smoking bruise on her jaw and her eyes spinning.

The whole scene finally allowed the tension to drain out of the room, several of the shipgirls in the room descending into giggles. Giggles that only intensified when Akashi, with all seriousness, kneeled down to inspect Nagato.

After a few minutes, she stood and said, "Nice punch. She'll be out for a while."

"Which makes this easier," Ashigara said, stepping up. "What happened out there, Hoppo-chan? Who did this?"

The little Abyssal grimaced, but she still started telling her story…

~o~

 _Hoppo hummed a pop song she'd heard recently as she skipped along the waves. With Nagato gone, she could actually go out on the water without having to deal with all the fuss negotiating the battleship down on layers and safety equipment. Hoppo-chan loved her mama, but she could be just a_ tad _overbearing sometimes._

 _As she skipped along the waves, something suddenly intruded upon her consciousness. Something… odd. Like she knew where her socks were without owning a sock in her life. Frowning slightly, she changed course, heading towards where the awareness was leading her._

 _Her course ended at a small object somehow floating along the waves, sunlight glinting off its surface. Reaching down, Hoppo-chan picked it up, examining it. It reminded her of a jewel, in a pretty bluish-purple color. And staring into its depths, she could feel the_ gravity _of the object. Not that her still-young mind particularly cared. It was pretty and shiny, and so she would be taking it home._

 _She had just pocketed it when another awareness made itself known, this one far more familiar. Danger, and close. Eyes intended to see to the horizon scanned the seas, and Hoppo-chan's body fell into neglected but still familiar combat readiness. She didn't have to wait long. Whatever it was that had set off her danger senses quickly crested the horizon, and prompted her to unwillingly flinch._

 _It wasn't its appearance that caused that, though the blood-red eyes and smoky black blob body were certainly unsettling. Instead, it was a diametric feeling of_ familiarity _and_ wrongness _. It was like an Abyssal, and yet not, and yet still close enough to be creepy as hell._

 _And then it vanished from sight._

 _Hoppo's eyes widened, and a smell of sulfur and cheap cough syrup was the only warning she had before something smacked her upside the head and right below the shoulder blades. Unprepared for the blows, she hit the waves in what was basically a belly flop, one that naturally threw up a lot of water. The black blob didn't waste any time, darting for the splash, but Hoppo had immediately thrown herself to her feet, and with it charging straight at her she was able to catch the limbs that lashed out._

 _They turned out to be two black tentacles, seemingly made of the same shadow-stuff as the main body that controlled them. They felt solid, though, and when Hoppo-chan headbutted the thing, the main body felt solid, too. It even recoiled as if in pain._

 _Heartened, Hoppo transferred the tentacles to one hand, and then yanked it closer so she could start punching. The Abyssal rained down blows on the blob, each causing it to flinch. She reared back her fist for yet another punch - and then had the wind knocked out of her when a_ third _tentacle, this one much thicker with some sort of knob at the end, sprouted straight out of the bottom of the blob and slammed into her gut._

 _Hoppo slumped over the tentacle, wheezing in a vain attempt to get air into her lungs. Worse, the two tentacles fell out of her suddenly slack fingers; both lashed out with whiplike strikes to her head and shoulders. When she recovered enough to raise her arms to try and ward off the blows, the knobbed tentacle slipped below the guard and slammed into her jaw. Stunned, dazed, and without any footing, Hoppo could do nothing as that same tentacle reared back and then slammed into her torso again in a whip maneuver._

 _Once again, she went skidding on the waves, but this time it was deliberate. For all the punishment she had taken, Hoppo-chan was an_ Installation _. It would take far more than that to bring her down, and she needed the space if she was going to counterattack._

 _She didn't expect it to pounce on her even faster. She didn't expect it to use that moment of surprise to truss her up. And she most certainly didn't expect it to be_ stronger _than her. Hoppo could do nothing while it simply whaled on her, and eventually, after much punishment, she slumped in the blob's tentacles, unconscious._

 _The blob paused, almost seeming disbelieving, and then unceremoniously dumped Hoppo-chan onto the water, prodding her body from a distance. Eventually, it seemed satisfied that its foe was down for good, and quickly retrieved the Soul Gem from her pocket before leaving._

 _Haguro would arrive not ten minutes later._

~o~

[Kinda spitballing on that last bit,] Hoppo said. [I know I picked up that gem, but Haguro and Akashi said I didn't have it.] Her story done, the little Abyssal groaned and slumped deeper into the tub. [Can I please go back to soaking now? I'm still really sore. Ow.]

"We'll leave you to it, Hoppo-chan," Ashigara kindly said. "Inazuma, could you wake-"

"HOPPO-CHAN!"

"Never mind," the heavy cruiser muttered as Nagato shot up, and then scrambled over to Hoppo-chan's tub. "We'll just get out of your hair, Akashi."

The repair ship nodded. "I recommend you go talk to the Yuubaris, then," she said. "We all know they sometimes have a bad habit of not being… forthcoming when they get a breakthrough."

All present shuddered. So much _wax…_ But those shudders were followed by two growling stomachs, and embarrassed blushes from Inazuma and Yuudachi.

"I think we should all get some food and a good night's sleep before we talk to them!" Kongo cheerfully suggested. "And not just because Inazuma and Yuudachi are starving. Even the Yuubaris need time to get results."

"In case you've all forgotten, we've got a brand new enemy that eats Installations for breakfast and five more of these things scattered all over the damn Pacific!" Kiso snapped. "I think we can take the time to learn a _little_ more before we-!"

"Darling, you're home!"

That was Hokaze, who'd rocketed out of nowhere and latched onto Kiso. Everyone else took the opportunity to sneak out, leaving Kiso to try and pry off the destroyer.

"Get _off!"_

"But honey, I was so lonely!"

She wasn't have much luck.

~o~

The team re-gathered outside the Yuubaris' lab the next morning, bright-eyed and well-rested and - for now, at least - missing Kiso and Nagato. Ashigara and Kongo were discussing the latter's absence, in fact.

"You know here better than I do, Kongo," Ashigara said quietly to the battleship. "Do you think she'll decide to stay behind?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Kongo replied. "But it also wouldn't surprise me if she does show up. As much as she'll want to protect Hoppo-chan, she also knows that the best defense is to go out and end the threat as soon as possible. Plus, I have no doubt that Hoppo-chan will try and convince her to sortie with us."

Ashigara nodded. "We'll wait, then." An eager grin spread over her face. "Anyway, did you hear about what Akashi had to treat the other day?"

"I know! I wonder who it was…?"

As for the others, Sendai was keeping quiet, and Tenryuu was keeping an eye on Inazuma and Yuudachi and their whispered conversation.

"Should we listen? 'Cause I wanna listen, poi."

"Of course I want to listen, nanodesu! But you remember what happened the last time Kagero did it!"

"Kagero is… well, y'know, poi."

"I'm going to let that pass because it's true, nanodesu. But this is still a bad idea."

"But I'm so curious, poi!"

Oh well. As long as they were arguing instead of listening…

In any case, Tenryuu's attention was promptly occupied by Kiso arriving, and the light cruiser was not only disheveled, but hunched over with thin bags under her eyes.

"Up all night having fun, huh?" she drawled, adding in a knowing waggle of her eyebrows.

In response, Kiso flipped her the bird. "Get bent, Tenryuu. You're the last person I want to hear that from. Now, what the _fuck_ are we waiting for?"

Several small explosions, three electric whines, one shouted swear word, and two metallic grinding noises sounded out from the lab, all in the span of about ten seconds.

"Never mind."

Inazuma and Yuudachi, naturally, retreated, warily eyeing the door to the lab. Everyone else tensed up a bit, waiting.

Sure enough, about a minute later one of the Yuubaris opened the door, dressed not in their usual sailor outfit but an orange work jumpsuit and tank top. Soot liberally decorated her face, arms, and shoulders, and she looked surprised to see them.

"Shoot," she muttered. "How long have you guys been waiting here?"

"About twenty minutes," Ashigara answered.

Yuubari muttered something probably obscene under her breath, and then leaned back into the lab. "HEY, WRAP IT UP! WE'VE GOT OFFICIAL BUSINESS!"

The gathered combat team couldn't hear the reply, but they did see Yuubari's face twist into a scowl.

"YEAH, WELL, WE KNEW THEY WERE COMING, AND NOW LOOK WHERE WE ARE! CONSIDER THIS OUR IDIOT TAX FOR THE MONTH!"

Another unheard reply, and Yuubari leaned forward again. "Okay, give us… five minutes to do some cleanup, and then you can come in."

The door closed, and Inazuma and Yuudachi immediately scrambled for the door. Or would have, had Tenryuu not snagged their collars.

"Noooo, we wanna listen, poi/nanodesu!" they wailed as they were dragged back.

"And they'd been doing so well, too…" Tenryuu muttered, ignoring their pleas.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the door opened, Yuubari looking much cleaner this time.

"Come in," she said. "And don't touch _anything._ "

Everyone shot Yuudachi a _look_ at that, prompting the destroyer to protest, "Why're you all looking at me, poi?!" as they trailed into the lab.

The answer was found in… well, everything they were currently threading around. Sharp-edge scrap steel and parts, a bewildering variety of machine tools, and completed and half-completed devices lay scattered around, obstructing floor space. The devices especially were to be avoided. They were just as likely to be some sort of disintegration device as to be a super-fancy light switch.

"Sorry about the mess," Yuubari said as they walked. "It's always like this before our weekly lab-cleaning."

' _Weekly?'_ everyone thought, glancing around at the mess again.

No one voiced the logical follow-on thought, for it was seconds after that they moved around another mound of junk to arrive at their destination. The other Yuubari twin was sitting at some sort of switchboard, a dot of oil still on her nose. But everyone's eyes were drawn to the massive flatscreen monitor hanging on the wall.

"We're here," the Yuubari leading them announced. The Yuubari at the switchboard thing merely grunted, which drew a sigh from her twin. "And I guess I'm doing the talking. So, we completed analysis of those Soul Gems, and I gotta thank Nagato for that name, because it's a very appropriate one."

Everyone stood a little straighter at that. "What do you mean?" Sendai very carefully asked.

"Because as far as I can tell, this is a crystallized ship's soul."

Eyes widened, blood left faces, and everyone looked all-around horrified at that. "Our _soul…?"_ Inazuma squeaked.

"Not a _whole_ soul," Yuubari hastily reassured them. "Just part of it. I think if we made one ourselves, it would simply take their shipgirl abilities and leave them a normal human." A manic grin started to spread over her face. "And despite those limitations, what a result! They're a power source of unprecedented strength! You could power metropolitan Tokyo with one of these for a year, and it still wouldn't run out! Why-!"

"You're not doing that," Kongo and Ashigara chorused.

Yuubari froze, her hands up in the classic ham pose. After a few seconds, she hastily brought them down and coughed, embarrassed. "Right. We're not doing that. Anyway, the final point, and why these things are dangerous: you could probably use these to dramatically strengthen a shipgirl or Abyssal. Shipgirl souls interacting with each other, is the idea."

"So we still need to hunt these things down," Tenryuu stated, slamming her fists together.

"Exactly. And to help with that…" Yuubari turned to the monitor, pulled a remote out of her pocket, and pressed a button. Immediately, a map of the Pacific Rim with a grid overlaid on it sprang to life. Immediately catching the eye were several bright dots: one in the Kanto region, one well west of Hawaii up the seamount chain, two in Singapore, one near the Seattle/Vancouver area, and two inhabiting barren stretches of ocean.

"We call this the Big Board," the light cruiser continued. "As you can see, resolution's not great, but since Nagato can sense these things for some reason, getting to the general area should be enough to find them. And those enemy-held ones should be even easier. Just follow the path of most resistance."

Everyone nodded, examining the board. What to retrieve first…?

"Well, we can't let the Midway Princess or Harbor Princess figure out how to use these things," Kiso stated. "Then they'll be even more difficult to dislodge."

"Yes, but-"

"Which one was moving?"

Everyone blinked in surprise as Nagato stalked up to them, a look of grim determination on her face.

"Oh, hey Nagato," Sendai remarked. "I'm gonna guess that you're joining us in the search?"

"I am," the battleship tersely replied. "Hoppo-chan and I had a… conversation."

~o~

" _I have to keep you safe!" Nagato shouted, hoping,_ pleading _for her adopted daughter to understand. "I can't lose you!" Who knew she'd object so strenuously to Nagato declaring she'd stay behind to protect her?_

 _Hoppo, for her part, pursed her lips, brows scrunching together. A giggling bout of Nagamon-ism threatened to bubble up, but Nagato shoved it down. Not the time._

 _[Alright,] Hoppo sighed. [If that's how you feel… well, I'll just say this. I think the best way to protect me right now is to make sure that_ thing _is in no condition to come after me, or anyone else.] A pause. [By which I mean, go out and kill that damn thing already. Best way to keep me safe.]_

~o~

"Moving?" Yuubari queried, drawing Nagato out of her thoughts.

The grim determination became even grimmer. "That… _thing_ that hurt Hoppo-chan has one of the gems," she growled. "And it's moving. I know it. So, the gem that's moving is being held by it."

Yuubari nodded, and pressed another button on the remote. One of the ocean-based glowing dots flashed, the one sandwiched between Hawaii and the Aleutians. Nagato's fists clenched.

"That's the one we're going after next, then. If any preparations need to be made-"

" _Belay that, Nagato."_

Everyone jumped, not expecting the voice over their radios. "Admiral?" Nagato protested. "We need to stop this thing now, or-!"

" _Perhaps. But I will remind you that the Harbor Princess has two, and actual scientific resources backing her. More importantly, something - or some_ one _\- is approaching the last ocean-based gem. We believe they're from the Director. Frankly, that creature can wait, regardless of your understandable vendetta."_

Fists clenched and teeth ground together, but Nagato couldn't refute Admiral Goto's points. "Yes, sir," she sullenly replied.

"In that case, we should speed things up," Sendai chimed in. "Admiral, permission to take myself and Yuudachi to infiltrate Singapore?"

"Me, poi?!" Yuudachi yelped, pointing to herself.

"You can be perfectly stealthy when you want to be," Sendai replied. "And that's only been enhanced by your battle aura."

" _Authorized,"_ Admiral Goto replied. " _As long as this remains a_ stealth mission. _If you can't do it quietly, simply reconnoiter and then pull back."_

"Yes, sir!" both shipgirls barked.

"In that case, nanodesu, permission to make a smash and grab on the Midway Princess?" Inazuma asked.

Tenryuu started at that. "Inazuma-!"

"I'll be fine," the destroyer assured her momboat. "She's huddled in fear and doesn't have _anything_ fast enough to catch me. I'll be in and out, nanodesu."

"You'd better," Tenryuu growled, kneeling down to look Inazuma in her eye. "Promise me that if you run into _any_ serious resistance, you bail. Okay?"

"Yes, mom," Inazuma deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. This earned her a chop to the head.

"Cheeky brat," Tenryuu said affectionately as she stood. "So, anything to add, Admiral?"

" _Nope."_ A hint of annoyance leaked into his voice. " _So, unless anyone has anything to add…?"_

"Then I guess the five of us will handle whoever the Director sent," Nagato summarized, looking over Kongo, Ashigara, Tenryuu, and Kiso. "We'll move out immediately."

" _Excellent. Good hunting, all of you."_

~o~

It crept along the seas, searching for… well, the rudimentary intelligence of the shadow creature wasn't sure. Only that it would know it when it saw it. The Soul Gem was a prize, certainly, thrumming with power, but it had none of the spark the creature was also searching for. And where there was intelligence on this world, there was power, power that it sensed and shied away from.

But its senses and instincts had found something else. Something with the spark, and yet isolated and… easy. Yes. It would do nicely, and in fact that beast had been steadily stalking its target for some days now. It's course had become increasingly erratic over the last several hours, and it felt that now was the time to strike.

The creature surged forward, not with tentacles but with its whole body poised to strike. Its target, its prey, let out a gasp and frantically tried to evade, but their leg gave out, sending them sprawling to the water. Easy.

And as the darkness enveloped Aso, she desperately tried to claw it off, and then when that didn't work attempted to merely get free. That, too, proved futile, and soon only her face, contorted in fear, and one arm remained free.

"Kasagi…" she breathed, tears dripping from her eyes. "I'm sorry… I guess I'm not coming back after all…"

And then, she was gone. All that was left was a black blob sitting on the waves, the "smokiness" gone. And then, it stood, the darkness peeling back to reveal a human figure. Aso's already dark hair was now midnight black, her skin white and eyes black with yellow irises. Abyssal. Her cloak had vanished, replaced by a sleeveless kimono of a style similar to her fellow Unryu-class. The being that was once Aso raised a hand and examined it, a cruel smile spreading over her face.

[Oh, such a nice vessel,] it purred. [Such rage, such hate… and such shame and regret, as she tries to put that behind her. Let's see…] Crossing its arms, the thing that was once Aso drew upon a deep well of power. Power that poured out of her in a blinding white aura and lifted her off the water.

[AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!]

And with one almighty roar of exertion, she shunted that power out in a massive burst that threw up waves all around her. On her face was a look of ecstasy.

[Perfect.]

~o~

Hundreds of miles to the south, Lee fought the urge to sigh as Truxtun babbled on. He could respect the other man's strength, but good lord he just _would not stop talking._ And it wasn't even anything interesting, just a stream of consciousness spilling from his mouth. Lee had had to learn how to tune it out fast, lest he go insane on the long journey.

Luckily, they were close enough to the Soul Gem that he had an excuse to shut Truxtun up.

"Shut up," he said, holding up a hand. "I need to concentrate to find the gem."

Amazingly, Truxtun did, and without any acrimony. Slowly, Lee glanced around, and his eyes quickly fell on a glint on the water, a glint that was fairly radiating power. He glided over to the spot, and picked up the gem, holding it up to his eye. Flawless, blue-purple, deep to impossible levels. No doubt about it: this was their prize.

"Oh, pretty," Truxtun said from over Lee's shoulder. "So, what do they do, exactly? Gotta be important, if everyone's scrambling around to grab them."

"I think…" Lee frowned as he probed the gem. "Power. Lots of it, and in an easily-accessible package."

Truxtun nodded - and then suddenly turned to the west without saying anything.

"Looks like we're going to fight after all," he said almost eagerly.

Turning his senses outward, Lee nodded; the power approaching at high speed was plainly obvious. A grin broke out on his face.

"Excellent."


	4. Chapter 4

As the five-woman team of Nagato, Kongo, Ashigara, Tenryuu, and Kiso steamed over the water towards that open-ocean Soul Gem, the mood was decidedly somber, in stark contrast to the chatty atmosphere that prevailed on the way to Dutch Harbor. In large part it was due to losing Inazuma and Yuudachi, balls of sunshine that they were, but it was also due to Nagato. The battleship had been silent the entire time, radiating an aura of grim brooding that stifled even Kongo's cheer. Especially after she tried to engage Nagato in conversation and got a face-melting glare for her trouble.

With nothing to distract them, all five shipgirls couldn't help but think about and fret over the upcoming fight. The Director had only sent two combatants, after all, and nobody really thought she was so hard up for manpower that she was just hoping they didn't get noticed. Obviously, they were special in some way, which was never a good thing when it came to Abyssals. That was not a thought conducive to keeping calm and collected, and while Ashigara, Nagato, and Kongo could keep their heads about it and keep their mental assessments realistic, by the time Nagato was close enough to start properly searching for the Gem both Tenryuu and Kiso had quite obviously developed an increasingly monstrous mental image of their opponents. From the shudders and unconscious tugging at their skirts, tentacles featured prominently.

It was almost a disappointment when they all spotted two human figures on the horizon.

As they got closer, though, a major incongruity became clear.

"I see two, like Admiral Goto said," Ashigara reported, one hand shading her eyes. "But unless my optics are broken, I'm pretty sure those two are _male."_

"Male?!" Tenryuu and Kiso exclaimed.

"Does it matter?" Nagato bit out. "They have the Gem, I can feel it. Male or female, we will need to take it from them." And with that, she surged ahead of the group.

Ashigara and Kongo exchanged concerned glances, but followed, trailed by the two light cruisers. As they got closer, though, yet another difference made itself known.

"Is it just me," Tenryuu announced. "Or are those two not Abyssals?"

Everyone else started, and then squinted at them again. Sure enough, neither had the tell-tale chalk-white skin and glowing blue/red eyes. In fact, one of them had quite dark skin. And more importantly, neither gave off the equally tell-tale aura of pure menace Abyssals radiated.

It was as they examined them that they came to another stunning realization: neither gave off that sense of kinship that indicated shipgirls - or ship spirits, as the better term seemed to be. Instead, they by all accounts looked like two entirely normal human men. Very _scrumptious_ human men, both Tenryuu and Kiso couldn't help but notice. Which was _impossible_ , even considering all the wacky shit that had happened during the war.

"Hmm…" Kongo hummed, prompting everyone to look hopefully at her.

"So?" Kiso asked eagerly. "Do you know what they are?"

"Nope!" the battleship replied. "I have no idea!"

It took everything Tenryuu, Kiso, and Ashigara had to not trip over their own feet at that.

~o~

That action was not missed by the two men, who had spotted the shipgirls almost as soon as the shipgirls had spotted them. Truxtun nearly fell over laughing, while Lee merely cracked a smile.

[Well, they look like a fun bunch,] he remarked.

[Fun? Hahahahaha… Oh man…] Finally, Truxtun's laughter subsided, and he wiped a tear from his eye. [Fun is an understatement, my good man, I can just tell. Let's see what they want, first.]

And so the two settled back to wait, at least until the shipgirls came within shouting range. When that happened, the one they knew was Nagato came to a halt out in front, looking quite imperious, with the rest of her team lined up behind her.

"You!" she declared. "Whoever you are!"

[We have names, you know!] Truxtun called out, clearly throwing the battleship for a loop. [I'm Truxtun, and he's Lee! And, y'know, maybe we don't have to fight! I'd certainly prefer not to have to fight lovely ladies like you!]

To Truxtun's delight, Nagato went bright red at that. "Y-You…" she snarled. "Just hand over the Soul Gem already!"

[Oh, so that's what they're called,] Lee cut in. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the Gem and held it up to examine it a little closer. [Good to know. Well, in that case, I'm afraid Truxtun's offer is null and void. The mission and all; can't disappoint the Director, or she'll probably have us dismantled or something.]

Truxtun, halfway through an "Aw!" of disappointment, went completely serious at that.

"Then in that case…"

To the surprise of both men, a golden aura suddenly erupted around Nagato, accompanied by a skyrocketing rise in power and her feet rising about six inches off the water.

"I'll just take it from you!" she finished, before dashing right at Lee. He barely managed to get his arms up in time to block it, and the punch not only jarred his arms and sent shockwaves up and down the bones, but sent him skidding back a solid foot on the waves.

By unspoken agreement, Lee spared enough concentration to toss the gem to Truxtun, who caught it as he moved to intercept the rest of the shipgirl team. Last distraction gone, he turned his full attention to Nagato, and the snarling face inches from his own.

[Now, really,] he said. [I don't think I did anything to gain this level of enmity from a complete stranger.]

A bewildered expression crossed Nagato's face, and in that brief moment of weakness, he uncrossed his arms and grabbed her wrist, before ramming a knee into her chin. His foot had just touched the water when the counter arrived: an underarm punch that slammed straight into his nose.

And even as he staggered back, grip on her arm breaking, he was smiling as wide as he could. Perfect. Perfect! Yes, Truxtun was right. This was going to be _fun._

~o~

Tenryuu, Kongo, Kiso, and Ashigara had begun moving the instant Nagato went Super Nagamon, the battleship teleporting in to assess and react.

The arm that clotheslined her into the water didn't factor in at all.

[Oops, sorry about that, pretty lady,] Truxtun said, his sudden appearance prompting the cruisers to come to a halt. [But I'm afraid I can't let you interfere. So unless you all want to fight me - which I don't mind, really! - stay back, please.]

One glance to the ongoing fight, where Lee and Super Nagamon were trading blows, put paid to _that_ idea.

"Now what?" Ashigara hissed to Tenryuu and Kiso.

"We wait," Kiso whispered back, nodding at Kongo. The battleship was slowly getting to her feet, side-eyeing Truxtun's back the whole time. "We get Kongo back, and hopefully Nagato can beat her opponent and provide us with an opening on this guy."

"Pretty sparse plan," Tenryuu noted. "Pretty passive, too."

"I know," Kiso growled, her hands clenching around the hilt of her sword. "But we can't fight him. Not if he's as strong as his buddy."

Kongo teleported back to them, Truxtun not even twitching, and that was that. All they could do was watch Nagato's fight and hope she came out on top.

~o~

Lee ducked under a wild swing kick, and his return punch was somehow caught in Nagato's palm, the battleship twisting in what would be very painful ways for a human. That palm block morphed into a grab and throw, and the instant he landed Nagato was on him, raining blows at high speed from every angle.

[I love it!] he shouted, grin not fading from his face even under such an onslaught. His arms were blurs, parrying and block and otherwise fending off the punches. [Such passion, such ferocity! And with so much raw power behind it!] Finally, he caught one of the punches. [But so sloppy!] And with that, he rammed his knee into Nagato's gut, knocking the wind out of her. As she folded around his leg, Lee crouched down, and then rammed the heel of his hand into her jaw, putting all the strength of his legs into the blow.

The result was that she soared into the air with all the grace of a ragdoll. So when Lee disappeared from sight and appeared above her to drive his boot into Nagato's back, she gave no resistance until she plowed into the sea.

Lee touched down next to the impact point, watching as the sea slowly settled. [Is that it?] he muttered when the waters went calm again, disappointed. And then a fist collided with his jaw, and disappointment fled from _pain._ The kick that thundered into his ribs was just icing, really.

Still, he quickly got control of himself, jamming his arm into the waves to come to a halt, and glanced up just in time to see the energy ball before it hit him.

KA-BOOM!

Nagato carefully eyed the site of the explosion, and then grimaced as the steam cleared to show Lee upright and intact aside from some rips in his clothes, a sight that made her own bruises throb in sympathy.

"What does it take to actually _hurt_ you?" she growled.

[That punch to the nose hurt,] Lee grunted, wiping away some of the blood flowing from it. [And that underwater uppercut you-] He paused at the expression on her face. [Oh, that was a rhetorical question, wasn't it? I'm _so_ sorry.]

Growling, Nagato launched herself at Lee, initiating another round of hand to hand combat.

~o~

On the other side of the battle, the remaining shipgirls were growing increasingly worried. Despite being consistently on the offensive, Nagato had failed to land a knockout blow on her opponent. Everyone present, particularly the two swordswomen, knew how tiring pressing the offensive was in hand-to-hand compared to playing defense, and worse, Nagato was fighting angry and rushed, which only made matters worse.

So it was to little surprise but much worry and disappointment that they saw Nagato starting to slow down, while her opponent was still going at full speed.

"How much stamina do these guys _have?_ " Kiso growled. "Nagato's burning through power like it's paper, and this 'Lee' isn't faltering at all."

[Hey, I didn't know we could do that, either,] Truxtun cut in a little defensively. [Gotta say, though, I'm sure not complaining.]

Kiso clenched her teeth, but didn't respond, and Ashigara leaned in to Kongo.

"Get ready to teleport in," she whispered. "We may have to make a hasty-"

CRACK!

All eye were drawn back to the fight, where Lee's leg had connected with Nagato's upper arm with a sickening crack. The battleship promptly hunched forward, clutching the damaged limb, her face drawn in a pained grimace.

And at this, Kiso had had enough.

"Get away from her!" she snarled, hurling herself as fast as she could at Lee, sword drawn and held back. Immediately, Truxtun followed, Kongo and Ashigara dashing into the fray seconds later, and Lee, who could hardly miss the shout, turned around to face the ragged charge. Tenryuu could only watch as Kongo reappeared in front of Truxtun just to get kicked in the face by the man, knocking her into the sea, while Kiso's sword landed on Lee's outstretched arm - and with a sound like falling glass, shattered at the impact point. Her eyes widened, and Truxtun slamming her into the water with a punch to the back of the head an instant later was almost unnecessary.

Planting his foot, Truxtun spun around in time to sidestep a wolf-enshrouded swipe from Ashigara before clamping his arms around her neck and squeezing. Choking in a vain attempt to get air in her lungs, Ashigara scrabbled at the arms around her throat. No dice. She couldn't even scratch his skin with her nails.

At this point Tenryuu came to a sobering conclusion: there wasn't a damn thing she could do except get taken down herself. Kiso was easily her equal, as much as she didn't want to admit it; and both Kongo and Ashigara could handily kick her ass if they so chose. _None_ of them had done a damn thing other than go down in one hit. So even as her hands threatened to warp the handle of her sword, she stayed back, if only just to get the word out if it went to that.

Of course, down did not mean out, and there was also one fighter besides Tenryuu still standing. Nagato, busted arm or not, swung her good fist at Lee, while Kiso jumped to her feet and charged at Lee's back, rigging manifesting. Unfortunately, the fighter simply ducked, grabbed Nagato by the ankle, and slammed her into Kiso, sending them both down.

[I think that's all of them,] Lee stated.

[Not… quite…] Truxtun grunted. Despite his best efforts, Ashigara was still conscious and trying to break his hold. [Stubborn… oh, and… might wanna look behind you…]

Lee did glance behind himself, and quickly sidestepped the energy blast that Nagato had launched. At the same time, Truxtun let go of Ashigara, who slumped to the water, and ducked under Kongo's sudden punch. The knee-kick she followed it up with was caught, and then the dark-skinned man slammed a punch into her midsection, hard enough that Tenryuu could see a slight bulge in her back. She winced, and Kongo coughed up a wad of spittle before going limp.

His partner, meanwhile, had dashed at Nagato once the blast passed, punching her square in the jaw. The battleship went down again, and from the grunts of pain in between her gasping breaths it didn't look like she was getting up this time. Still, Lee didn't seem satisfied as he loomed over her.

[I'd better take care of that other arm,] he decided, before kicking that arm and getting another snap.

"Yargh!"

And with that scream of pain, Nagato fell unconscious, the glow of the Super Nagamon fading.

[So it goes away when she gets knocked out,] Lee remarked. [Good to know.]

[Dude, don't you think that was a little harsh?] Truxtun remarked as he walked up to his partner.

[You're one to talk,] Lee shot back. [I saw what you did to that miko girl's keel.]

Truxtun flushed, Lee mentally declared victory, and then the two turned towards Tenryuu, still watching with her hand on the hilt of her sword.

[One last thing, and then we'll go,] Lee said.

Nodding, Truxtun followed Lee as they steamed up to the light cruiser, who simply gritted her teeth and waited. It quickly became apparent that both were taller than her, but she continued to stare up at them, mentally noting that maybe she should've run sooner.

[So,] Lee said. [Are you going to try and stop us?]

Part of Tenryuu screamed to say yes, to continue to spit defiance at these two - but not only was that _stupid_ , a part of her was increasingly convinced that these two weren't as evil as she'd assumed.

Still, her "No." was only forced out through gritted teeth.

[Good,] Lee nodded. "You'll want to get them in the docks soon. I believe USS Omaha is nearby, isn't she? That should do it."

Tenryuu's eyes widened. If that was true, how did he-

Lips pressed against her cheek, and Tenryuu recoiled back from Truxtun, face bright red and eyes wide in shock. [Later,] the man said, before waving cheekily and following after his partner.

Stunned, Tenryuu could only watch them leave, hand right on the spot that'd been kissed.

"What just happened," she finally said after a few minutes. A pained groan shook her out of her paralysis, and she hastily keyed her radio. "USS Omaha, this is JS Tenryuu. Am in need of immediate emergency dock space for four shipgirls."

A long pause, and then to the light cruiser's relief, an answer came over the channel.

" _Roger that, Tenryuu. ETA fifteen minutes."_

With her enemies gone, and help on the way for her damaged comrades, Tenryuu could finally relax, and she slumped to her knees, panting slightly. Despite her relief, though, her thoughts were churning. How on earth were they going to stop those two, next time? And there was going to be a next time, if they were still going to try and find the Soul Gems. And…

The cruiser shook her head. No, getting them to defect was a fool's errand, and she was a fool herself for thinking it was possible.

~o~

"I think it would've been kinder for them to finish us off," Kongo groaned.

The battleship, even considering Nagato's broken arms, was probably the worst off of the team; the blow to her gut had indeed damaged her keel - or spine was perhaps the better term. The magic of the docks was working on it, but it would take some time.

"Why _didn't_ they finish us off, for that matter?" Ashigara wondered, her voice a raspy croak due to the damage to her throat. "They _have_ to know we'll come after them again. Do they really think us that little of a threat?"

"They kinda have a point if they do…" Kiso groaned, before sliding a little deeper into the water.

"That may be it, but… I don't think so," Tenryuu replied, before bowing her head. "On that note, I'm sorry I didn't try to help out, everyone. I-"

"Forget it," Kiso sighed. "You're at least as strong as me-"

"Finally, you admit it!"

"Shut up and let me finish." Tenryuu did, indeed, shut up, but the shit-eating grin on her face didn't waver. "Right. Point is, you're at least as strong as me, and I did jack and shit before going down in one hit. You made more of a difference calling for help and repairs."

"Right…"

The shipgirls fell silent, but none of them could avoid stealing glances at Nagato. The battleship was at the far end of the five individual docks, utterly silent and visibly stewing in her own thoughts. What those thoughts were, they could only guess at.

"So… what's wrong with Nagato?" Kiso queried.

"I have an idea," Tenryuu said, glancing Kongo's direction. "She's been like that since she woke up. I thought it was getting her insides kicked out of her that was the cause, at first, but-"

"Usually she'd be over that by now, yes," Kongo finished. "So, you noticed she was bothered by something after Dutch Harbor, too?"

"Yeah," Tenryuu nodded. " _What's_ bothering her, though, I don't know. I was hoping you'd have a better idea, Kongo."

There was an expectant silence that rapidly stretched into awkward, before Ashigara finally voiced the obvious question.

"So… do you?"

"That…" Kongo began, everyone leaning in. "A secret!" Everyone groaned, and Kongo hunched forward and clutched her back. "Ow. Owowowow. But seriously, I'm pretty sure it's something she and Hoppo-chan need to work out together." She sighed and sank deeper into the water. "I just hope Inazuma, Sendai, and Yuudachi are having better luck than we are."

~o~

Over in that far dock that Nagato occupied, the battleship was brooding. Visibly so. The confusion on the part of Ashigara and Kiso was understandable, as they hadn't really seen her like this. Kongo and Tenryuu… had.

And while her thoughts were of the defeat they'd just suffered, it wasn't for the obvious reasons.

' _I can feel power. I_ know _I should have been able to defeat that man. But I couldn't. And it wasn't a failure of anger, of impatience, though I never should have let him set the pace like that.'_

Under the surface of the bath, her fists clenched.

' _No. I was weaker. Physically so. What is the_ point _of desecrating the power of cuteness like this if it can't defeat my enemies?'_

The conclusion to that line of thought was obvious, devastating, and something she'd been shying away from the whole battle. And she shied away from it again.

Because the answer to that question was nothing. Nothing at all.


	5. Chapter 5

A formidable array of Abyssal might stood on the shores of Midway atoll, watching the horizon and quaking in their boots. One of the scout submarines the Harbor Princess had lent them had five minutes earlier had reported one of the eight shipgirls that the Abyssals had dubbed "supergirls" zipping by, over a hundred miles distant from the atoll. That had allowed them to deploy in a tight defensive line on their enemy's expected vector, close enough to the Midway Princess that she could act as support and a counter to any flanking maneuvers. It was a solid plan, one that had gotten them through many a skirmish with Japanese shipgirl forces mostly intact.

Unfortunately, solid a plan as it was, there were two problems with it. First, a disastrous attack a few months prior had denuded the Midway Princess of most of her veterans, leaving the remainder of her defense forces as green as fresh-cut grass, and thus doubly afraid of the shipgirls that had the Abyssals on the back foot in all the oceans.

Second, and more important, conventional tactics just _didn't work_ against Inazuma.

SKRAK!

A _horizontal_ lightning bolt the size of sequoia was the first salvo, one that tore a massive hole in the Abyssal lines, incinerating several of the Abyssals and only barely missed the Midway Princess herself. To their credit, even these green combatants stood their ground, compacted their line, and filled in the hole, preparing themselves for the onslaught that was sure to come.

But when it did come, there was still nothing they could do. Inazuma was little more than a flash of light to them, a flash of light that pinballed off of Abyssals and sent them flying with unpleasant dents in their flesh, armor mattering little to anything that fast. Still, the Abyssals frantically fired their guns in the general direction of the flash, which unfortunately simply generated more friendly fire.

Within a few minutes, resistance from the sea-based Abyssals collapsed entirely, those that could attempting to flee. Those that went for the open sea were ignored; those that went for the lagoon were run down and batted aside.

All too soon it was down to Inazuma and the Installation herself, and the destroyer came to a halt in the lagoon, idly sidestepping several 5" shells the Midway Princess desperately fired.

[Damn you…] the Installation growled, her whole body shaking. [Damn you! What do you want?! Is rendering me impotent not enough? You have to repeatedly humiliate me, too? Just end it already!] Planes rose from her airfields, a veritable swarm of them. [Or stand there and die! I'll take that, too!]

Inazuma flicked her wrist, and lightning coursed out and through the planes, sending them into the water. "Do you want me to end you, nanodesu?" Inazuma asked, her gaze hard. Casually, she raised her fist, the back of which connected with the face of a Ka-class submarine that had snuck up behind her with a torpedo in hand.

Midway Princess gritted her teeth, thought long and hard on it - and then reached into her clothing and pulled out the Soul Gem that she'd been sitting on, prompting Inazuma to tense and take a step back.

[Ah, yes, you recognize this, don't you, little destroyer?] Midway Princess crooned. [This was your prize, yes? Well, too bad! Because I can _feel_ the power within, and I've held this long enough to know how to use it!] And with that, the Abyssal slammed the gem into her chest, where it stuck. Power coursed through her, visible in the golden aura that sprang to life around her-

And then suddenly, Inazuma was right there in front of her, hand wrapped around the Soul Gem.

[What are you-]

"Hmm, I wonder how you remove this, nanodesu," Inazuma mused as she… well, there wasn't any other word for her action other than 'fondled'. She fondled the Gem.

Naturally, Midway Princess took blushing offense to that. [H-Hey, get off, you little-!]

"Ah, got it." With a hard tug, Inazuma yanked off the gem, and saluted cutely. "Sorry, your powerup has been cancelled until further notice, nanodesu!"

Growling - and nearly shrieking in frustrated rage - the Midway Princess attempted to grab Inazuma in a bear hug. To her surprise, she succeeded.

[I have you now!] she crowed.

The destroyer merely sighed. "You're not very smart, are you, nanodesu?" And with that, she flipped the switch for her electrical powers to 'on'. She was protected.

Midway Princess was not.

By the time Inazuma cut the current, the hapless Installation's hair, clothing, and horns were all frazzled and smoking, and her eyes had rolled up in their sockets to show all whites. Her arms, utterly slack, let go of Inazuma entirely, and then she slumped to the coral, down and out. But not dead, because the universe and shipgirls alike are cruel like that.

After a moment to ensure she'd _stay_ that way, Inazuma pocketed the gem, turned around, and took off for Yokosuka. Most likely, she'd be the first one back. Maybe she could go look up something a little more… steamy than her usual romance novels.

~o~

"Do you know how many times I've scouted out this island?"

Yuudachi paused in her consumption of potato chips, having picked up several bags before leaving Yokosuka for exactly this sort of situation. "I dunno, three times, poi?" she answered.

"Try a _dozen_ ," Sendai answered, putting down her binoculars. "And in what's both good news and bad news, they haven't changed the primary security one damn bit."

"How is that bad news, poi?" Yuudachi mumbled through another potato chip.

Sighing, Sendai pointed out towards Singapore. "Because that means there's only one route into the city that offers us a good chance of not being detected, and it _sucks_."

Frowning, Yuudachi stowed away the chip bag and clambered up to follow Sendai's pointer finger. From their perch on the Malaysian mainland, the destroyer's keen eyes could see that the light cruiser was pointing at one of the big bridges that had once connected the two countries, and now lay in considerable disrepair. Still, it was guarded by a number of bored-looking heavy cruisers, visible primarily via the light of their cigarettes.

"What, the bridge?" was Yuudachi's disdainful reply. That earned a cuff upside the head from Sendai.

"No, not the bridge, you dummy!" she snapped. "Or, at least, not completely. Look at what's running along the side of it!"

What was she- ah. Yuudachi plopped her fist in her hand upon seeing the trio of large pipes running along said bridge. "You mean the pipes, right, poi?"

"Bingo. The problem is, they're going to be a tight squeeze." A disgusted grimace spread across her face. "Oh, and this long after Singapore's fall? I don't even _want_ to know what kind of crud is in those things."

"Aw, it can't be that bad, poi."

~o~

"It _can_ be that bad, poi…" Yuudachi whined, flicking some muck off her hand.

The pipe had, indeed, been found to be lined with some rather disgusting crud, a potent mix of deposited silt and rotten organic material, left to fester in stagnant water for a few years. It was wet, gooey, and slimy, and all-around disgusting. And due to the size of the pipe, the two shipgirls had to _crawl_ in the stuff.

"Could be worse," Sendai remarked. "There was this one time I pulled a prank and had to hide in some effluent pipe for a few hours…"

"What's effluent-" Yuudachi shook her head. "Y'know, on second thought, I don't want to know, poi."

"Smart girl."

The two fell silent after that, not wanting to risk alerting any passing Abyssals. It took some time - quite a bit of time, actually - but eventually they entered a larger network of pipes, at which point Sendai quickly located a surface access point, and slowly and quietly shoved it open, allowing the two to gratefully clamber out into the street.

"We're in luck," Sendai said, eyeing the dark, star-studded sky. "Internal patrols are more relaxed, and in the dark, I doubt we'd be spotted if we were dancing the can-can." On glancing down, she blinked at Yuudachi eyeing the surrounding ruins, her fists clenched at her sides. Or perhaps it was the sky she was looking at.

"I usually only see this many stars on long sorties, poi," she said, unprompted. "Hundreds of miles away from any people. And now I can see them in the middle of a city, poi…" Suddenly, the destroyer began walking deeper into the city. "Let's go. I don't know how long I can stand this, poi."

"Uh, Yuudachi?"

The destroyer paused, and turned around to find Sendai giving her a flat look and a finger pointed in a different direction.

"We need to go _this_ way," the light cruiser informed her.

A blush immediately bloomed on Yuudachi's face. "My point stands, poi!" she declared as she went the right way. Sendai chuckled good-naturedly and jogged up to take point.

Getting to their destination was, as Sendai had predicted, relatively straightforward, at least in terms of dodging security. The guards were, to an Abyssal, sleepy and inattentive, and the ruins offered no shortage of cover in the darkness. And as for that destination?

Well, as the ninja cruiser explained it: "They have this vault they took over for storing strange artifacts. I've been in it; most of it is random human-made stuff they simply don't understand. There was a _Buzz Lightyear_ in there the first time I went in."

For a moment, Yuudachi's face lit up in hope.

"But if I'm right and they're storing their Soul Gems there, then they've upped the security considerably."

And then it went down again.

Either way, the two slipped past the last of the patrols, and found themselves across the street from the vault building, which had very obviously been a bank at some point. The two quickly scrambled up a neighboring building, both to get a better look and to evade the eyes of the fully-alert sentries lining the front of the building. That first building, unfortunately, left much of the former bank obscured, but a move to a neighboring structure got them a decent angle into the vault building.

And what Sendai saw was not good.

"Dammit," she groaned. "Pressure plates, lasers, cameras galore… is that an electronic lock?" She squinted, getting a better look. "Yeah, looks like. Where'd they _get_ this stuff?" Throwing up her hands, she went silent, mulling over the problem. So focused was she on this that she didn't notice Yuudachi lean back to examine the building they were on.

"Go through the vents…?" the ninja wondered, before shaking her head. "No, they'll be expecting that, we wouldn't fit, and that won't get us past the vault door."

Beside her, Yuudachi traced her gaze from their building to the former bank.

"Explosives will get us in, easy-peasy, but they'll also draw all the wrong sort of attention. And besides, Admiral Goto ordered us to be discreet."

Grinning, Yuudachi turned and walked towards the back of the roof they were on.

"Can't sneak in there. No time to case the place, no time to see what kind of lock that is, no way to get the kind of computer to crack it…" She grimaced. "Fuck. I don't see any way to get in without making _way_ too much noise."

Suddenly, there was a low hum that rapidly faded, and the lights faded from a several-block radius. Sendai blinked, and then turned around to see Yuudachi crawl out of the transformer poking out of the roof of the substation they were on.

"This should make things easier, poi?" the destroyer grinned.

For a moment, Sendai just stared. And then her face lit up in gratitude and she said, "Yuudachi, I could kiss you right now." From the comical expression on Yuudachi's face, she didn't appreciate the sentiment. Brat. "But let's go and get those Soul Gems instead! I don't know how long it'll take them to restore power, but I doubt we have much of a window."

And with that, the two jumped to the ground and sprinted across the battered street. With Sendai's stealth skills, Yuudachi's loping, low movements and black aura, the darkness, and the fact that the guards were all scrambling to figure out the power outage, getting to the right window and wrenching it open was easy. That same confusion aided them in getting to the vault door, whereupon they realized a new problem.

"Hmm, so the lock has a mechanical fail-safe where if it loses power it simply stays locked," Sendai mused. "Smart."

"You've got some sort of device to open it, though, poi?" Yuudachi eagerly asked.

"Something like that." Reaching up, Sendai sunk her fingers into the metal of the door. "Get ready to fight and run, because there's no way they're going to miss this." And with an almighty yank, she pulled the door right off its hinges with a shriek of abused metal.

Carelessly tossing the mangled door aside, Sendai dashed in, quickly grabbed the two Soul Gems carelessly tossed on top of a Persian rug left in a corner, and ran back out, hands going for her small stock of explosives. But when she got out of the vault, there was no one attacking, and Yuudachi just shrugged at the incredulous look sent her way.

"What? I guess there was a way for them to miss it, poi."

"Let's just go," Sendai groaned, hand over her face. The two set off for the another window on the other side of the building, quickly popping that out and scrambling into the night. In the process, they got a good look at where the Abyssal response was: parked right outside the main entrance with heavy weapons aimed in. They also looked decidedly confused about why no one was dying on said heavy weapons.

Neither shipgirl questioned their good fortune in favor of moving as fast as was safe through the urban cityscape. Unfortunately, they hadn't gone five minutes before alarms started blaring throughout the ruined city - and more importantly, a spotlight suddenly came to life in their faces. Even blinded, the rumble of dozens of feet heading their way was impossible to miss.

"Alright, onto Plan B!" Sendai shouted. "Yuudachi, can you fight your way out of here?"

"Yeah, I got this, poi!"

"Then do it! I'll make my own way out!"

Nodding, Yuudachi crouched down, and let her battle aura, tamped down since entering the old bank, spring to life. The aura, which as usual made her resemble a pitch-black dog, prompted a slight shudder from Sendai; that was always a little freaky to watch. Snarling, Yuudachi launched herself at the perimeter, and though the ninja couldn't see a damn thing under the spotlight she could hear the screams of the Abyssals.

Also, that building was totally collapsing. Geez.

Anyway, Sendai quickly wrapped one of her paper explosives over a handy throwing kunai and tossed it up the beam of the searchlight. With a muffled thumping sound, the searchlight went out, and the light cruiser turned and ran _away_ from the fight.

She had a different target in mind.

~o~

[Report!] Harbor Princess barked with all the irritation of someone woken up half past way-too-fucking-early.

[Two shipgirls have infiltrated the city and hit the artifact vault!] one of the Abyssals monitoring the citywide surveillance system stated. [Unfortunately, one's dropped off our radar, and the other one is tearing through our defenses!]

Harbor Princess leaned over that Abyssal's shoulder, and winced. That was a rather more literal description than she'd thought. Yuudachi. It had to be Yuudachi. And the sneaky one was probably Sendai.

[Did they take anything?] she queried.

[Guards are reporting that the power stones are missing!] another bridge bunny answered.

A grimace crossed Harbor Princess' face at that. The power stones. Of fucking course. Though…

[Let Yuudachi through,] she ordered. [She doesn't have the power stones, and thus her escape is irrelevant - and also inevitable, let's be honest. Redirect our assets to finding the other shipgirl. I'm fairly sure it's Sendai, and that she has the gems.]

[Yes ma'am!]

The Installation grinned as the techs went to work with practiced ease. Let the Empresses have their endless tides and shiny new wunderwaffe. She'd taken and held Southeast Asia by grit, training, and good tactics, and by god was it working! Now, they just needed to find one light cruiser…

[Got her!] one of the techs reported. [She's in area D-17, redirecting forces right now!]

D-17? That was right near one of their ammunition depots. And more importantly, clear away from any proper escape vectors. What was she-

Harbor Princess' eyes widened. [Pull them back! She's going to-!]

Several explosions suddenly rocked the building, and presumably the island it was on. Several of the bridge bunnies were thrown to the floor and showered with broken glass, and the whole room was lit up by the plumes of flame rising in the distance.

Simply put, there was no way she and her forces would be mounting an effective pursuit now. Not if they wanted to come back to a city instead of a pile of ash.

[Well played, Sendai…] Harbor Princess admitted.

~o~

Out on the water, but still not far from the shore, Yuudachi gasped in awe at the same explosions.

"This is Plan B, poi?" she exclaimed. "I like Plan B!" The destroyer closed her eyes and grinned. "I can see Plan B through my _eyelids,_ poi!"

"You like that?" she heard Sendai say. "Was a bit dicy there for a while, but blowing stuff up is usually good for getting out of jams like that." For a few seconds, the two shipgirls were silent, and then Sendai spoke up again, a little more hesitant this time. "Uh, Yuudachi? We should probably be going now…"

"Ssh…" Yuudachi hissed, transfixed by the explosions. "Pretty…"

Another few seconds of silence, and then Sendai sighed and grabbed Yuudachi by her shoulder, dragging her away.

"Yeah, no, we need to be _gone_. C'mon!"

"Noooo…!" Yuudachi weakly protested as she was dragged away. "The explosions!"


	6. Chapter 6

By the time the Omaha nosed into Yokosuka Harbor, the mood had picked up for four-fifths of the supergirls onboard. All had seen their injuries fixed up in the baths in time to clamber up to the prow and ask the captain of the ship to go to flank for ten minutes or so, marvelling at the speed of the little ship. Still, all but Tenryuu resolved to check in with Akashi as soon as they could.

Nagato, though, remained stone-faced and silent the whole time, and overall the mood was still rather dour as they walked down the gangplank onto the pier. That not Ooyodo but _Fubuki_ was there waiting for them didn't help. At least she was smiling.

"I'm glad to see you're all back on your feet," she said, before her sincere smile melted into one of stern command. "I'm sure you'll all want to get checked up on, and I approve, but we need to debrief you all yesterday. So…"

Suddenly, Fubuki blinked and looked around, most of the rest of the supergirls and even Nagato doing the same. They were in Admiral Goto's office, the man very calmly sitting behind his desk. Somehow. Probably Kongo's doing, if the fact that she was slumped over with hands on her knees and panting heavily was any indication.

"Don't… ask me… to do that… again… anytime… soon…" she wheezed.

"Thank you, Kongo," Admiral Goto said, before turning to address the gathered shipgirls. "Alright, what the _hell_ happened? All I know is that you lost and failed to collect the gem, and that's only because the Yuubaris told me that."

The shipgirls all looked at each other, and then Tenryuu stepped forward; as the one who'd been a spectator the whole time, everyone had agreed during the trip back that she was best suited to share what had happened.

And so Tenryuu launched into the explanation: how they'd come across the two _male_ combatants, how one of them was holding a gem, how Nagato had challenged that same one and steadily lost, how the rest of them sans Tenryuu had jumped in and gotten their asses handed to them before the two left.

The kiss was not mentioned. And nobody had been conscious enough to contradict her, thank god.

When Tenryuu finished, Admiral Goto leaned back and exhaled out through his nose.

And then he threw up his hands.

"Okay, seriously, what the fuck are those guys?" he snapped. "You said they weren't shipgirls or Abyssals."

"They weren't," Ashigara sighed. "Our senses and basic logic both agree on that. The only male shipgirls _or_ Abyssals are the result of a freak accident with the summoning ritual. One I find it unlikely the Director has replicated."

"And no, we don't know what they actually are," Kiso deadpanned.

"Hmm… If you don't know, then I'll have the Yuubaris look into it," Goto mused, stroking his chin. "They'll love a tough problem like this. They'll also curse my name for the difficulty, but the harder the problem the happier they are." Nodding, he continued, "Now-"

Suddenly, a white blur streaked in, revealing a smug Inazuma holding up a Soul Gem as she leaned against the wall. "Mission accomplished, nanodesu," she declared. Then she blinked as the mood in the room hit her. "Uh, did something happen?"

The door opened, admitting a scowling Fubuki, followed shortly by Sendai and Yuudachi.

"I told you not to run ahead!" Fubuki snapped, before sighing. "Okay, that's everyone, Admiral Goto. I'm going to get back to paperwork."

As the destroyer exited the room, Goto nodded at the newcomers. "Sendai, Yuudachi?"

"Mission accomplished, Admiral!" they declared, holding up the two Soul Gems they'd retrieved. Then they, too, blinked at the palpable auras of depression and slumped forms of the rest of the team. All except Nagato, who was simply terrifyingly still.

"How bad?" Sendai sighed.

"Well, I was just about to ask if you all can defeat the Director's latest project, considering they just defeated five of our best and now have a Soul Gem," Admiral Goto deadpanned. "You tell me."

"Okay, pretty bad."

"Well, if Inazuma teams up with Nagato, they might be able to take down one of them," Tenryuu mused. "Nagato may have lost, but it was more due to stamina rather than any lack of power or skill."

"And I'm not going down so easily now that I know what to expect!" Kongo declared. "So I can at least hold off the other."

"In that case, rest, recover, and see if you can refine this plan," Admiral Goto declared. "We're keeping tabs on the blob monster, those two the Director sent, and have eyes directly on that last Soul Gem. The minute either of the bad guys make their move, you're sortieing." He paused, blinked, and then leaned off to the side. "Hey, where's Nagato?"

~o~

The battleship had, in fact, left the room shortly after Yuudachi and Sendai had arrived, and was staggering towards the quarters she shared with Hoppo-chan. Sadly, the little Abyssal was not there, and so Nagato stumbled over to and flopped onto her bed.

Her mind was still circling around the conclusion she'd come to on the Omaha, and as much as she wanted to avoid it, the conversation with Admiral Goto had forced her to confront it. If the Super Nagamon couldn't defeat enemies beyond the norm, then there was no point to using it in combat. No point in using the power of cuteness to inflict pain. She was still one of the Big Seven, her guns would suffice for normal Abyssals.

And if she wouldn't be using the Super Nagamon, then she couldn't let the rest of her comrades rely on her power in making their plans. Besides, weren't these Soul Gems capable of enhancing the powers of a shipgirl? They had four, to a maximum of three that any enemy could have. That would replace her.

Decision made, Nagato resolved to inform Admiral Goto at the first opportunity. Then her arms twinged, and she also resolved to check in with Akashi ASAP. Wallowing in angst or not, it was better to not be in pain, and she couldn't be useful as a regular battleship while battling lingering damage.

Nagato quickly drifted off after that, still in her clothes and atop her sheets, and awoke early the next morning to find herself still alone. She quickly and robotically went through her morning routines, and then wandered into Admiral Goto's office.

"Good morning, Nagato," the Admiral said when he saw her. "You worried us there for a bit, but Mutsu told us you had just fallen asleep. You could've said you were tired."

"I… didn't think it was important, Admiral," Nagato admitted. Slowly, she took a deep breath. "I… this is hard to say…"

"You want to be removed from the team."

Nagato's eyes widened. How had he-!

"It's obvious that something's bothering you," Goto continued. "And I find it hard to believe that under normal circumstances you'd lose to anything the Director created. After all, I seriously doubt that she'd create anything stronger than her, and you matched her blow for blow."

"Anyway, take some time to work this out." His gaze turned stern again. "But keep in mind that you're our best chance to defeat all the wackiness currently cruising the oceans. So I _do_ want you to work this out, and as fast as you can."

Nagato opened her mouth to say that no, that wouldn't be happening, but what actually came out was "Yes sir." And she left without correcting her Admiral, wandering away still in something of a daze.

Once she was gone, Goto sighed and leaned back into his chair, staring up at the ceiling. "Hurry back, Hoppo-chan," he said.

~o~

The day passed, and the next, in peace. Kongo was fussed over by her sisters, Ashigara by her lover, and Kiso by her wife. Inazuma shared her short little action with Tenryuu and her sisters, to rapt attention. Sendai had disappeared to God knows where. And Yuudachi?

"Ah, ice cream is the _best_ , poi!"

She was doing the usual destroyer thing: revel in being a kid. In this case by eating a bowl of ice cream without a spoon.

"I'm glad to hear it, Yuudachi," Shigure quietly stated, before a spoonful of her own ice cream reached her mouth.

"Of course!" Shiratsuyu declared via brandished spoon. The lead ship of her class had organized the little excursion to a shop neither of her sisters had even heard of. "This is the number one ice cream shop in the Kanto region! And it's only not number one in Japan because I haven't tried any outside of Kanto yet!"

"It's very good," Shigure agreed.

"Mmph mrgl!"

Shigure and Shiratsuyu both sighed.

"Swallow, then talk," the latter said, bopping Yuudachi on the head. Yuudachi promptly fought back, still licking down ice cream while she batted at Shiratsuyu. Shiratsuyu, naturally fought back, and the two batted back and forth at each other for a couple minutes before the former's phone rang.

Pulling it out of her pocket, Yuudachi looked it over, and her face hardened at the sight on the screen.

"Sorry, but I have to go," she said, pressing her ice cream into Shiratsuyu's hands. "See you soon, poi!"

Her battle aura flared to life, she crouched down, and then Yuudachi launched herself into the air in a colossal bound that quickly took her out of sight.

For a moment, the two destroyers just stared in the direction Yuudachi had leaped off in. "What do you think that was about?" Shigure wondered.

"Who cares! More ice cream for me!"

Touching down back in Yokosuka after several more bounds, Yuudachi dispelled her battle aura and sprinted for Admiral Goto's office. She breezed past Ooyodo at her desk and then into the office itself, where Kongo, Tenryuu, Kiso, Inazuma, and Sendai were already waiting.

"Where are Nagato and Ashigara, poi?" she asked.

"Ashigara was… well…"

As Tenryuu trailed off, Kiso lifted up her hands, formed one into a circle, and then began to jab her index finger back and forth through it. Kongo promptly smacked her upside the head.

"Don't pollute young maidens' minds!"

"I don't even know what she was doing, poi…" Yuudachi groused.

"As for Nagato, she will not be joining us at this moment," Admiral Goto sighed. "I'd hoped Hoppo-chan could get her back in action by now, but at this point we can't wait for her. Ashigara will fall into that category herself, if she doesn't show up-"

The door slammed open, Ashigara staggering in, her clothes and hair askew and breath coming in heaving gasps.

"Sorry… I'm… late…" she panted, before collapsing into the only open chair.

"Soon." Shaking his head and smiling, Admiral Goto plowed on. "Anyway, I'm here because we have a situation. Those new fighters the Director produced? We've detected them on the move towards Vancouver Island."

Everyone sat up a little straighter at that. They all knew what that meant.

"And there's more. The blob-monster that attacked Hoppo-chan is en route, too."

That generated looks of confusion.

"Then, uh, wouldn't that get Nagato to come with us, nanodesu?" Inazuma asked.

"And why not just let them destroy each other?" Sendai added.

"In order, we tried that, and not if it allows them to wield not one, but _three_ gems," Goto answered. "Keep in mind the stakes here."

Kiso, naturally, asked the obvious question. "Okay, but we've got four either way. Why don't _we_ use 'em?"

Admiral Goto grimaced. "Because the Yuubaris insist on making sure they're safe to use," he grumbled. "And unfortunately, I don't know enough to contradict them and Akashi's been too busy to confirm anything for me. Besides, even if that weren't the case, I'm not keen on putting our entire hopes on an untested power booster."

"Anyway, you need to get there ASAP. Kongo, can you get everyone there?"

"If you want me to be useless for the next week, sure!" Kongo enthusiastically answered.

The face Goto made at the answer would have been hilarious at any other time. "Right. I think I can get a cargo jet authorized fast enough… get over to the airbase, I'll get the orders sent."

"Yes, sir!"

~o~

Hoppo-chan hummed happily as she and Mutsu stepped off the train at Yokosuka. Osaka had been great. They'd gone shopping and sightseeing and sampled all the Osakan street food they could stomach! And being ship spirits, that was a lot. There had been many happy vendors that day.

Unfortunately, right there on the platform was a grim-faced Fubuki, who stalked up to them as soon as the doors opened.

"Finally, we've been waiting for you, Hoppo-chan," she said without preamble. "You're late."

"Ara, we took an extra day because we were having so much fun," Mutsu said. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, it all became clear to Hoppo-chan. [Nagato-mama's sulking again, isn't she?] she groused. [And I need to go get her out of it.]

"Please," Fubuki pleaded with her in all but tone.

"I don't see why you keep having to do it," Mutsu huffed. "I'm her sister! I know her almost as well as you do!"

[Keyword being 'almost',] Hoppo replied. [And that 'almost' includes the Super Nagamon, which is what the Admiralty is looking to get back.]

"... Point," Mutsu conceded. "Alright, Fubuki, lead the way. And what's the situation, because I'm assuming there is one if we need the Super Nagamon so urgently."

"Not now," Fubuki said, glancing about. Mutsu and Hoppo-chan followed her eyes to the many civilians about, and kept their mouths shut while they exited the station and clambered into a staff car. Only there did Fubuki explain the situation.

And so it was a grim-faced Mutsu and Hoppo-chan that parted ways when they arrived back at Yokosuka. The little Abyssal headed straight for her shared quarters with Nagato, Fubuki trailing behind, and took a moment outside their door to school her features into something more presentable.

With a small smile now on her face, Hoppo-chan reached up and knocked on the door. [Nagato-mama, I'm back!] she announced.

There was no answer.

[Ohhhh, this is a bad one,] Hoppo groaned. [Fubuki, you should leave.]

Fubuki nodded, and left, leaving Hoppo-chan to enter and poke through the quarters she shared with Nagato. The battleship wasn't hard to find, sprawled out on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. When Hoppo-chan clambered up to her feet, she lifted her head.

"Hoppo-chan…?" she breathed. "You're back…?"

[Yeah, Nagato-mama. Sorry I was gone so long.]

No words were spoken; Nagato simply swept her up into a trembling hug, one the little Abyssal matched. The two stayed that way for a few minutes, until Hoppo spoke up.

[What's bothering you, Nagato-mama?]

"Nothing, I-"

[Bullshit.]

Nagato gasped. "Hoppo-chan!"

[Oh, come on, Nagato-mama, you can't really expect me to believe that,] Hoppo-chan snapped. [The Nagato-mama I know is stern and determined and loves cute things, and is _not_ this mopey mess I'm looking at!]

"And that's the problem," Nagato sighed, flopping back on the bed. "Thank you, Hoppo-chan, but this isn't something that can be solved with words."

[What's the problem? You mean cute things?] The little Abyssal blinked. [Really? That's what you're worried about?]

The dismissal in her tone prompted Nagato to shoot back up, more passion in her eyes than in days.

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about!" she shouted. "The Super Nagamon is powered by my own love for cute things! And to use it to hurt people is just…" She shuddered. "Unthinkable! And now it's weakened! If I can't at least use it to protect people, then what's the point of using it to fight at all?!"

That pronouncement hung in the air, and then Hoppo had a most peculiar reaction.

She began to giggle helplessly.

"This isn't funny!" Nagato wailed.

[Yes it is, Nagato-mama!] Hoppo got out between giggles. [Because you're being silly!]

A blink. "Eh?"

[Okay, yes, the Super Nagamon is powered by your love of cute things,] Hoppo explained. [But remember what triggered it? What prompted that power to burst into a usable form?]

The memory came unbidden, and Nagato's eyes widened. Enterprise. Yoshino. Babysitting. A bout on the harbor of Yokosuka.

[Exactly. This power was _always_ meant to protect. And it weakened because you began to doubt that.] Crawling up even closer, Hoppo-chan cradled her adoptive mother's cheek. [You don't need to doubt it anymore. Trust me.]

Nagato closed her eyes, soaking in the memory of that time. No, Hoppo-chan was right. She'd been such a fool…

Still, this was a mistake that was easily corrected. Standing, Nagato tapped into that well of power, and in hindsight it was incredibly obvious how it'd been harder to draw on it. The golden aura of the Super Nagamon sprang around her, and Nagato felt better than she had in weeks. Much better.

"I'm going," she said.

[Good luck, Nagato-mama! Knock 'em dead!]

Smiling, the battleship opened up the window, crouched on the sill, and then took off, a golden streak that arced into the sky.

~o~

[Bet ya can't make the shot.]

[I can. You've seen me do that!]

[Bet ya can't!]

Sighing, Lee raised his hand and fired a pencil-thin beam of energy into the sky. Milliseconds later, it hit the wing of a Canadian F-35, ripped through the metal, and ignited a fuel tank, sending the stricken fighter spiraling out of the sky in a trail of smoke and flame.

[Aw, you did it,] Truxtun sighed.

[Must you indulge in such juvenile behavior?] Lee sighed right back.

[Normally, no, but look at this!] the man exclaimed, waving around them. [This is boring as hell! I need to do _something_ to spice things up a bit!]

Indeed, the waters around them were littered with the husks of fighter jets and attack helicopters, the only things that had met their challenge on Victoria Island. None had been able to so much as slow them down; the two had simply waded through the fire and grabbed the gem. Only then did they even bother to fight back.

The result, naturally, was more of a massacre than a fight.

[Point,] Lee conceded. [Though if it's all the same to you, I'll take boring rather than risk actually failing at our mission.]

[You're no fun sometimes,] Truxtun groused. [And the worst part is, you're actually fun the other times! Which just makes it worse! In fact-!]

Lee rolled his eyes and turned to scan the horizon while his partner ranted about all the ways he was 'no fun at all'. Their attack would get a response, he was sure, and then Truxtun would have something to do other than babble.

[-could've gone for donuts in Seattle, but nooooo-]

It couldn't come soon enough.

After five minutes that felt more like five hours, he spotted something on the horizon. Squinting, he let his eyes zoom in; yet another of the things he intended to ask the Director about when this was over. In any case, it was… a woman. An Abyssal, if he had his coloring right. And heading straight for them.

At that, he relaxed. The Abyssals were on their side. Now, for an opening…

[We're about to have company, Truxtun,] he announced once an opening in his partner's babble opened up. [I think the Director is sending someone to check up on us.]

[Well, anything better than standing around,] Truxtun said as he turned seaward himself. One hand shielded his eyes as he scanned the horizon. [That her?]

[Yes.]

[Hmm. Doesn't look like any of the usual types.]

Lee looked askance at his partner. [And how do _you_ know that?]

The look he received in return was just as incredulous. [I'm not an _idiot_. I happened to read up on and memorize all the common Abyssal types before we left.]

[I see…] Lee lied.

After that, the two fell into a not companionable, but also not awkward silence, watching the Abyssal steam up towards them. By all appearances, nothing was wrong.

And yet, both of them could feel a yawning chasm opening up in their guts.

[I'm not the only one who has a bad feeling about this, right?] Truxtun said with great trepidation.

[No, you're not,] Lee replied, a frown on his face.

Slowly, the distant figure grew gradually less distant, before coming to a halt about a hundred yards beyond them.

[Hello!] the new Abyssal greeted with a wave.

[Hi!] Truxtun greeted right back, his trademark smile back on his face. [So, what brings you here?]

[Well, you two! Hand over the two Soul Gems you have, and I'll try to make your deaths as painless as possible!]

Immediately, all mirth fled Truxtun's face, and both he and Lee slid into combat stances.

[You weren't sent by the Director, were you,] Lee stated more than asked.

[Nope!] the… _thing_ in front of them chirped. And it was with considerable trepidation that they realized they couldn't feel her power. [I do what I want, whenever I want!] Abruptly, all her cheer vanished in favor of a glare at the two. [And you two are currently _ruining_ that.]

There was no warning. No preparatory moves. One instant, the thing was still. The next, it had lashed out with a black, sharp tentacle, a former arm that impacted Lee right in his gut, pushing him back.

[Lee!] Truxtun roared.

[I'm fine, Truxtun!] Lee shouted back, his fists now visibly squashing the tentacle between them. [Just attack her already!]

[Too late!] the Abyssal chirped. Another tentacle-arm lashed out, and Truxtun barely managed to move his head out of the way before it impaled his skull. Even then, the tentacle scraped his cheek and drew a thin line of blood.

Gritting his teeth, he pivoted and planted one foot, throwing out his hand and a ball of energy towards the Abyssal. On the other side of the battlefield, Lee tossed the tentacle aside and fired off a blast of his own.

The Abyssal didn't dodge. Instead, she hopped up onto her feet, and spun, her foot impacting both balls and sending them soaring away. So busy were Lee and Truxtun gaping at the impossible sight that they didn't see the tentacles curving around behind them until they were both impaled in the gut region.

[Gah!]

[Fuck!]

Grinning madly, the Abyssal yanked the tentacles towards her, and her two opponents in the process. Both were sent careening in, their backs facing the Abyssal. It seemed like they had no control of their flight.

Except not. As they came in, both braced, adjusted, and at the last possible second spun and extended their legs. Truxtun's feet slammed in the Abyssal's temple and cheek, a crunch of bone reverberating into his soles. Lee landed his feet on her collarbone, also getting a satisfying crunch. And then, with their opponent staggered, both quickly charged up energy blasts and unleashed them, the explosion severing the limbs impaling them and thus allowing them to hop back.

[Well, that sucked, and then it got better,] Truxtun remarked, yanking the tentacle out of his gut. His body immediately went to work sealing the wound and redirecting important flows. [D'you think there's any chance that killed her?]

The steam cleared, revealing the Abyssal with a mad grin on her face and burns dotting her body. She twitched, and the bones in her shoulder and skull knit themselves, the burns melting away.

[Signs point to no,] Lee sighed. [Well. This could suck mightily.]

[Yeah, I think that might be an understatement…] Truxtun muttered. And not a second after uttering that, their opponent charged at them, and they were too busy fighting for their lives to talk.

~o~

Some distance away, a C-17 cruised through the air towards the battlefield. Within the cargo bay, things were tense. Each of the seven shipgirls within knew they were about to do battle with absurdly powerful opponents, ones that technically outclassed them, and this without their best fighter.

Despite that, the thought of abandoning this mission never crossed their minds. They were shipgirls of Japan, and they had their pride and their duty. And above all, they had faith that the last of their number would join them.

Suddenly, all their internal radios crackled to life, prompting them drop their thoughts and bring their hands up to their ears.

"Yes, Admiral?"

" _The Director's new mooks have made landfall,"_ came Ooyodo's tight, clipped voice. " _From the chatter we're getting, the Canadians have been unable to stop them, so assume they have the gem."_ A pause, and then the cruiser continued. " _New reports. That blob monster is there. It's fighting them. And now it looks_ human."

Everyone took a moment to digest that. And then Kongo spoke up. "Who's winning?"

" _The blob monster, from the surveillance footage we're getting."_

Kongo nodded. "Okay, change of plans!" she announced. "Inazuma, tell the pilot to lower the rear door! We're doing a HALO!"

"Aye!" the destroyer barked, before heading for the cockpit.

"Everyone else, proceed with the drop as planned! Hopefully we'll still be alive by then."

"No hopefully," Tenryuu stated, staring Kongo straight in the eye. "You let Inazuma die, I'm going to fight Enma, bring you back to life, and then kill you all over again."

The plane lurched, and the rear door began to descend. "Duly noted." And with that, Kongo stepped up to the now open rear, joined by Inazuma. "You ready for this?"

Inazuma nodded.

And then they jumped.

~o~

 _[This… is going all the way bad.]_

That was the thought that ran through Truxtun's face as he slammed into another Vancouver Island cliff face, demolishing it and adding to the already impressive collection of bruises he had. On top of that was the stomach wound, several broken bones, and what sure felt like damaged organs.

Still, he was better off than Lee, who was bearing the brunt of the Abyssal's assault. He could see his partner frantically backpedalling, blow after blow raining down on his guard and leaking blood from a dozen small wounds.

And so, despite the protests of his battered body, Truxtun hauled himself up and dove back into the fray.

In one respect, the attack succeeded. The Abyssal turned away from Lee and let him slump to the ground in favor of turning to Truxtun. His wild haymaker was ducked under, and met with an uppercut into his gut (thankfully not on the stab wound) that bent him double, a mix of blood, spit, and phlegm shooting out of his mouth.

[Hmm, is that all you two have?] the Abyssal mused as Truxtun slumped to the water, Lee not moving. [Darn. I guess it is. Well, might as well do what I came to do!]

Humming cheerfully, the Abyssal stepped over to Lee, who Truxtun belatedly realized held both of the Soul Gems they'd collected. And if this Abyssal thought he worked like a shipgirl…

[No…] Truxtun croaked, fighting to stand. For the first time in his short life, Truxtun cursed his own weakness. He was not going to lose his only friend in the world! Not if he could help it!

And yet, his body, wracked with damage and now struggling just to pull in enough oxygen, refused to cooperate. He had just managed to get into a kneeling position when the Abyssal picked up Lee, still unresponsive. And then… he came apart. There was no other way to describe it.

For moment, Truxtun just stayed frozen, staring. And then, a look of intense disappointment came over the Abyssal's face.

[Aw, fooey. I thought for sure he was the on with the Gems!] she spat, tossing Lee's coat on the water - at which point both Gems fell out. [Oh, hey, ever mind.]

[NAAAAAAARRRRRRR!] Truxtun roared. Jumping to his feet, he sprinted straight at the Abyssal with such speed that he actually caught her off guard, landing a punch that sent her soaring over the water. Despite his anger, Truxtun had enough sense not to pursue, instead cupping his hands in front of him to charge up the strongest energy blast he could muster.

The Abyssal had just gotten her feet back under her when she saw the blast launch at her, and by then it was too late. It hit, engulfed her, and then continued on into the distance.

Panting, Truxtun collapsed to his knees, as much via despair as exhaustion, for his opponent was still visibly standing through the steam. And the cloud clearing made him feel no better. Chunks had been blown out of her, but as with every time they'd done damage they were quickly restored.

[Hey, don't feel too bad!] the Abyssal taunted. [That really hurt! It's too bad you used up all your strength with that attack.]

[Dammit…] Truxtun groaned, slamming a fist to the water.

[Okay, time for you to die now, 'kay?]

He didn't look up, and instead let the sound of a building energy blast fill his ears.

ZZT!

[Yargh!]

Wait. That didn't sound like an energy blast.

It took a supreme effort, but Truxtun lifted his head to see the most glorious sight he'd seen in a while: a shipgirl, wreathed with white lightning, her fist outstretched and clearly terminating at the Abyssal's face.

Then time resumed, and the snarling Abyssal retaliated with a backhand swing. In a move that Truxtun was only barely able to follow, Inazuma grasped the limb, used it to push herself up, and then flipped around to slam a side kick into the Abyssal's face.

[Good lord she's fast,] Truxtun muttered. The destroyer continued zip around the Abyssal, flowing around attempted counters, and Truxtun knew how dangerous what she was doing was. One slip-up, and she would be down and out.

More to the point, what she was doing barely qualified as pinpricks. The Abyssal was visibly frustrated, but not faltering in the slightest. There wasn't even any sign of regeneration.

A rush of displaced air prompted him to force his head to move again, this time to his right, where he saw… Kongo, he was pretty sure, appraising him.

"Wow, you got worked over, desu," she said. "Can you fight?"

What Truxtun _wanted_ to say was [Does it fucking look like it, you daft bint?!] What actually came out was closer to [Dnnnnfrkingaaaahhh.]

"I'll take that as a no," Kongo said, before vanishing. She reappeared right above the Abyssal's head, driving her shoes into the monster's scalp - right as Inazuma launched a leg-assisted uppercut into the Abyssal's jaw. Despite being an enemy, Truxtun couldn't help but wince at the sight of teeth flying.

And that was the pattern for the next several minutes: Inazuma weaving around strikes and pounding every square inch she could reach, Kongo flashing in and out like an asshole, the occasional blow mixed in, and their Abyssal opponent visibly growing increasingly frustrated.

[Okay, that's it!] she finally roared. [Get…]

An flickering black aura sprang to life around the Abyssal, and then started to expand at high speed.

[Off!]

As Inazuma and Kongo zipped out of the way, Truxtun realized that the blast was heading right for him. Oh, and he couldn't move.

[Shit.]

~o~

"Iyaaaaah!" Kongo wailed as she frantically came out of her teleport, the explosion the blob monster - now a full-scale Abyssal beyond anything she'd ever seen - licking at her heels. And other, more sensitive body parts. Off to the side, she saw Inazuma briefly flicker in and then vanish, followed shortly by a crack of thunder. And then she was back.

"Okay, that's just not fair, nanodesu!" Inazuma whined.

Pulling herself to her feet, Kongo eyed the once-scorched Abyssal, now utterly pristine once again. "Wait, it _regenerates?!"_ she yelped. "Who designed this thing?! _Satan?_ "

"The Director."

"Oh, right. Yeah, that would explain it."

The banter ended with their Abyssal opponent charging right at them, and Kongo teleported out while Inazuma once again engaged the Abyssal. Teleport complete, the battleship noted that the man the Director had created, the one slumped bleeding on the sea not even a minute ago, had been embedded in the sand on Vancouver Island. The battleship sent him a quick prayer, and then she jumped in the air, teleporting as she landed to create a perfect dive kick.

' _How long can we keep this up?'_ she wondered as she hastily teleported again, away from a spinning kick that probably could've snapped her femur. ' _I'm a battleship, I can keep this up for a while, but Inazuma has less endurance to begin with and is spending energy like water.'_ As if on cue, there was a flash of light and a sizzling sound from where combat whirled.

Besides energy, their opponent was _fast_. Fast enough that sooner or later one of them would get unlucky and get tagged, and while Kongo could take a hit (maybe) Inazuma would likely go down instantly.

And then, Kongo heard the most beautiful sound she'd ever heard in a while: a howling wolf. Distracted as she was by Inazuma, the Abyssal didn't even notice the spectral wolf until it slammed into her back and exploded into blue flame. At the same time, Inazuma zipped up next to Kongo, panting slightly and visibly sweating.

"You holding up okay?" Kongo asked, getting a nod in return. "Good. Because the cavalry's here."

Indeed, visible on the water was Ashigara, on hand outstretched. She quickly pulled it back and thrust her other hand forward, another wolf darting forward. The Abyssal ducked under it and darted at Ashigara, murder in her eyes. Inazuma lurched forward, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

[You bitch!] the Abyssal snarled. [I'm gonna- hurf!]

That sudden whoosh of breath was due to Tenryuu and Kiso slamming the pommels of their swords into her gut out of nowhere, before pulling their blades back and gripping with both hands.

"Black Dragon!" Tenryuu shouted.

"White Dragon!" Kiso answered.

And then the two swung their blades.

"DOUBLE HERO!"

The result was, for some godforsaken reason, a cross made of energy going up into the sky. But when it cleared, the Abyssal was still there, and Inazuma once again made to re-enter the fray. And once again Kongo stopped her.

This time it was Yuudachi, going in high, claws out and aimed at the Abyssal, still recovering from the combination attack Tenryuu and Kiso had landed.

Suddenly, something black flashed out, skewering Yuudachi through the gut and bringing her to a halt well short of her target. The target that stepped into sight, again pristine and now with a snarl twisting her face.

[You people make me _mad,]_ she snarled. [And I'm through playing around.]

This time, when Inazuma moved to intervene, Kongo didn't try and stop her. What _did_ stop the both of them was Sendai zipping in, Kiso and Tenryuu also beating a hasty retreat. She fluffed her scarf, and several small cubes of metal fell into the water, the sea bubbling around her.

Yuudachi grinned, looking every bit the Nightmare of the Solomons.

"Boom, bitch," she said.

BOOM!

Yuudachi tumbled away as the sea erupted, cloaking the Abyssal. Her landing was not in the water but Kiso's arms, the light cruiser looking at her in concern. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, poi."

This close, the two had a good view of Inazuma and Kongo streaking and teleporting in, respectively - and their opponent still standing there, damage healed, and with an energy blast charged up in one hand.

[Die,] she said, and she brought it down. There was a flash of light, and then-

Black.

For Kongo, at least, that blackness only lasted a few minutes. She almost wished it had lasted longer. Her body was a symphony of agony inside and out. Still, she pulled up enough strength to roll over and slowly pull herself to her feet, and what she saw made her heart sink. The rest of the team - Sendai, Kiso, Tenryuu, Ashigara, and Yuudachi - were sprawled about the water, only the steady rise and fall of their bodies even indicating they were still alive.

That they were still that way was entirely due to Inazuma, who had evidently evaded the blast and was engaged with the Abyssal again. This time, though, the dynamic was entirely different. The destroyer was doing much more evading than attacking, constantly giving ground under a relentless assault. The battleship was now faced with an impossible choice: save Inazuma from eventual but certain annihilation, or get the rest of the team out of here, ASAP.

It was a choice that was really no choice at all, and Kongo felt something dark well up in her. "Dammit…" she growled, stomping the water. "Dammit! Damn you, Nagato! If you'd been here, none of this would have happened!"

Still, her anger didn't change the situation, one that instantly grew more dire when Inazuma missed a dodge and was clipped in the side, the force enough to spin her down to the water. The Abyssal promptly loomed over the destroyer, energy building in her palm. Kongo began to fold space in on itself-

And then a whistling sound drew her gaze up to a golden meteor that crashed into the water in front of the Abyssal. It was Nagato, hair golden and her brows drawn in an angry scowl. Kongo breathed a sigh of relief - and then glanced skyward.

"Please tell me Nagato didn't hear that."


	7. Chapter 7

Despite the stoic expression expression wore as she stared down the Abyssal in front of her, Nagato was equal parts livid and exhilarated. Freed from the doubts that had been plaguing her for the better part of the year, the battleship could feel the full euphoria of the Super Nagamon form that she'd forgotten. And, of course, seeing her comrades scattered around, battered and injured, tempered that euphoria with a cold fury.

And on that note, Nagato glanced behind herself, finding Inazuma still sprawled on the water. "Are you alright, Inazuma?" she queried.

"Lemme get back to you on that…" the destroyer groaned.

Satisfied that Inazuma wasn't going to die anytime soon, Nagato turned back to the Abyssal visibly wearing Aso's form. Despite her presence, said Abyssal was wearing a positively _gleeful_ expression. It would've been unnerving if Nagato was anyone else.

[Oh, you're strong!] the Abyssal squealed. [Strong enough not to resort to tricks like all the others, probably!] The gleeful expression morphed into one of stern judgement. [Don't do that. Seriously. I've already had to deal with that for, like, fifteen minutes, and I'm sick and tired of it.]

"You won't need to worry about that," Nagato stated. "But we're not fighting here."

And just like that, the happy mood was back, this time shown by the Abyssal bursting into laughter. [PFFHAHAHAHAHAHA! You think you have a _choice?_ Make me, you-]

That laughter was cut off by a hand clamping down on her face. Nagato's hand. The Abyssal immediately grabbed the arm it was attached to, but before she could even try to remove it, Nagato took flight, at the apex hurling the Abyssal onto her ass in the water, Vancouver Island nowhere in sight. The Abyssal had just hauled herself to her feet when Nagato touched down around thirty feet away.

"I wasn't asking," Nagato stated, shifting into a combat stance. "Now. Are we going to fight?"

Glaring, the Abyssal pushed off her feet and swung a haymaker at Nagato. The battleship merely slid back from the punch, grabbed the Abyssal's arm, and then pulled her close and rammed a fist right into her diaphragm.

Spit and more than a little blood splashed onto the water, the Abyssal folded like an accordion over Nagato's fist. And then physics reasserted itself and sent the Abyssal hurling into the air. Nagato took off after her, a golden meteor that arced above, spun, and then slammed heel-first into the back of the Abyssal's neck.

With her opponent headed back down for the water, Nagato tore down after her, several punches to vulnerable spots propelling the Abyssal ever-faster and then into the sea. Nagato herself came to a halt about a hundred feet above the water, and idly tossed an energy ball after it.

The resulting explosion threw up or vaporized enough water to briefly expose the seabed, before gravity reasserted itself and the water came crashing back in. It had just settled back into the usual patterns when the Abyssal grabbed the surface and yanked herself up.

Her neck was askew, as was her back, and livid burns decorated her body. And then, skin knitted, bones popped disgustingly, and the wounds were gone.

"So, you regenerate," Nagato remarked. "I wonder if there's a limit."

[Yeah, I'm not giving you a chance to find out,] the Abyssal spat. [I'm not wading into your counters again.]

Nagato shrugged. "Suit yourself." And then she charged, too.

Unlike the Abyssal's charge, this wasn't slow with a telegraphed blow. Nagato outright vanished from sight and when she reappeared in front of her opponent the Abyssal had no chance to react. A knee slammed into her gut; a right cross spun her head to the side; an uppercut sent shattered her jaw and sent teeth flying.

At that point the Abyssal slumped to the water and Nagato really went to town, raining blow after blow on her opponent. The one that had hurt Hoppo-chan. The one that had hurt her comrades. The one that had taken the body of another, no matter how estranged she may be.

' _I'm sorry, Aso… and you too, Kasagi…'_

Something gave under Nagato's fists, and she pulled one back, energy gathering and glowing within.

The blast never came. A streak of raw, undiluted terror ran through her mind, and her instincts screamed at her to _get back_. Abandoning the attack, Nagato jumped back, warily eyeing where her opponent laid in the water.

The Abyssal, when she stood, was a hideous mess, her face and upper torso battered into so much tenderized meat. And it wasn't regenerating. Somehow that unnerved Nagato the most.

Well, it could also be the sudden and rising spike in power coming from her opponent.

[I'd wanted to do this with my own power,] the Abyssal growled in a voice like grinding sand, despite the utter mangling of anything that produced sound on a human body. [So as I beat you to death, remember: everything that's about to happen to you is your own damn fault.]

~o~

"Holy shit," Yuubari breathed, staring at the big board.

The two mad science shipgirls had been monitoring the entire battle via long-range sensors in the safety of their Yokosuka lab. They'd been tensely silent when the Director's pair had fought that odd Abyssal, cheered the arrival of Inazuma and Kongo, wailed at the defeat of the rest of the team, and outright whooped when Nagato began kicking that thing's ass.

And now… now, the silence was grim. There was no tension, for they knew exactly what was going on and what it meant for them. The big board and its charts were rather clear on that.

"You said it," the other Yuubari muttered from her position over her twin's shoulder. "She's already past Nagato's maximum. At least, what we _think_ is Nagato's maximum."

As the Abyssal's power continued to climb, electricity suddenly began arcing over the consoles, the sounds of fuzes blowing and an acrid stench of burned plastic filling the air. Both cruisers immediately dropped their analysis and scrambled to attack the problem, one going for the fire extinguishers and the other ducking into the guts of the computer systems with a box of spare parts.

"What's the problem?" the Yuubari with the fire extinguisher asked as she emptied the contents on one of the fires.

"Don't ask me why, but we're getting power surges all over the place!" the other Yuubari answered, muffled slightly. "Which we shouldn't be, but I guess that's the fucking world we live in!"

One last puff of the extinguisher, and Yuubari was able to look up at the flickering board again, which soon stopped flickering right after a muffled curse and the sound of soldering.

"Okay, please tell me that fixed things."

"Yeah…" Yuubari gulped audibly. "Yeah, it fixed things."

"What are you-"

Yuubari clambered out from under the consoles, and immediately froze upon seeing the big board.

"That's… impossible, right?" she breathed. No way those numbers were accurate. No way!

"Apparently not…" Yuubari glanced over to the numbers next to Nagato. "Oh, this is not good. This is totally not good."

And then both cruisers were distracted by a zapping sound. They whirled around to find a person-sized blue-white elliptical ball of energy that somewhat resembled electricity sitting in mid-air, a ball that flashed and then resolved into a young woman with dishwater blonde hair and an obviously military uniform kneeling on the concrete.

The newcomer stood, and both Yuubaris hissed in a breath at her features: a mix of Japanese and white American. Not to mention her sheer _height._ As for the woman herself, she seemed focused on the big board. It took her only a second to take it all in, and then she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good," she said. "I'm not too late." Her gaze fell on the Yuubaris, and they instinctively tensed, as if in front of a flag officer. "My name is Akemi, and I'm from the future. Here's what I need from you…"

~o~

The fight, some detached part of Nagato's brain noted, was going poorly. And then she impacted Victoria Island, digging a trench in the dirt and stone with her body, and all thoughts fled from a Mongoloid horde of horse-mounted pain signals.

Then the battleship slammed into a cliff face and finally came to a stop.

And what was the cause of such pain? Why, it was landing nearby just right now!

Nagato's Abyssal opponent still looked… mostly the same. But her skin was now the gaudy gold of her own Super Nagamon form instead of Abyssal pasty white, as was her hair, and she also had a similar golden aura, just streaked with random arcs of electricity. As Nagato pushed herself out of the rubble, the Abyssal smirked.

[I'm impressed that I haven't killed you yet,] she said.

"Gee, thanks," Nagato deadpanned. Clearing her throat, she spat out a gob of saliva, mucus, and blood at her opponent's feet.

The Abyssal lost her smirk, instead gaining a steely glare. Nagato just smirked back, crossed one arm behind her back, and used the other to beckon her opponent forward, ignoring the pleas of her abused body to not do that. Her opponent obliged by attacking, and for a moment Nagato thought she could intercept this one.

Instead, the Abyssal vanished, and a knee slammed into one of her kidneys, sending shockwaves of pain up and down her body. She involuntarily hunched over, only to get smacked back the other way by a knee to her nose, which after all the abuse it had already taken crumpled it entirely. And then the Abyssal's fist slammed into her gut, sending her soaring into and through more of the island's mountains, then across the water and into the mainland.

It was, Nagato reflected as she pulled herself to her feet again, getting very tiring to keep having to unbury herself out of the rubble. Once again, she saw the Abyssal charging at her; this time, though, she didn't stick around, flying over the Abyssal and landing on Victoria Island again, wincing as the landing jarred her many bruises.

Oddly, instead of charging after her, the Abyssal stopped in the middle of the strait, smirked, and raised her hand, energy glowing in two fingertips. When she saw that, Nagato was already moving, and a good thing, too, for the Abyssal brought down her arm, resulting in a flash of light. When her vision cleared there was a smooth-edged trench in the earth stretching to the horizon, the sea flowing into it. The battleship felt a pit form in her stomach.

[Oh, that's more than I was expecting,] she heard the Abyssal mutter. [Gotta be careful. I still want to _live_ on this planet.]

It was like a lightbulb came to life. Nagato could have smacked herself; the Abyssal was now standing still instead of zipping around like a chipmunk on crack, which gave her an opportunity. One that she could compound by inducing the Abyssal to take things slow, and there was one very good way to do that. Carefully, Nagato fired a well-formed bit of energy into the ground in front of her, the still-muttering Abyssal not even looking up, and then took a breath.

If this didn't work, it was going to be exceptionally painful.

"Oi!" she called out, causing the Abyssal to jerk her head up. "Your mother wears Army boots!"

Why that caused the Abyssal to literally explode with rage, a red tint entering her golden aura, Nagato did not understand. Honestly, she'd expected to have to come up with more insults, something that was definitely not her forte. Maybe a side effect of the usual Army/Navy rivalries every military went through?

Regardless, her aim was achieved. The Abyssal slowly stalked towards Nagato, murder in her eyes.

[Just for that, I'm going to make this _slow,]_ the Abyssal growled as Nagato just as slowly stepped back. [I'm going to break your fingers and then slowly pull out the bones. I shall pluck out your teeth one by one and pour salt in the cavities. I shall rip out your jaw and your throat, so that you can no longer scream. And then-]

The Abyssal stepped onto the spot Nagato had fired her energy, and two things happened at once. First, she came to a halt. And second, that was because several glowing blue ribbons made of energy had burst out of the ground and wrapped around her.

[Eh?]

The Abyssal glanced down, and gave an experimental tug, at which point a wide grin spread over her face. [You think this'll hold me?] she cackled. [I can break this in a second!] She blinked. [Oh. Shit.]

"Yeah, that," Nagato growled over the sound of the energy blast in her hands charging up. "Just die already." And with that, she launched the ball at the Abyssal.

The effects were impressive: the horizon lit up, engulfing a massive chunk of the island. Wind, sound, and bits of debris tore at Nagato, and briefly she hoped the Canadians had had time to evacuate that part of British Columbia. Because when the light cleared, that chunk was vaporized, creating a new shoreline

Despite the size of the blast, Nagato didn't relax. She could feel the power rolling off her opponent, and it wasn't diminished in the slightest. And sure enough, when the Abyssal rose up out of the water, it was with one last small wound closing up.

"Damn," Nagato muttered under her breath.

[That… stung a bit,] the Abyssal mused, before zipping forward and belting Nagato right in the face. Of all the blows she had taken, that was the one that sent her sprawling into the dirt. Though given that it felt like her jaw was broken…

[You know,] Nagato heard the Abyssal muse over the sound of the monster's footsteps and her own pain. [I should probably stop screwing around with the whole 'endless suffering' thing. It'd be cathartic, sure, but it's a bad habit to get into, even if you can't hurt-]

Sitting up, Nagato fired off a quick blast that the Abyssal neatly sidestepped.

[See? That's exactly what I'm talking about,] the monster said. It continued to speak as it stalked towards Nagato. [You shipgirls are just so _sneaky_. Which is annoying, but I'm beginning to see the merits of it.]

The Abyssal came to a halt about thirty feet from Nagato, and raised its palm.

[So, yeah. Definitely gonna just kill you right now.]

The glow intensified, and Nagato closed her eyes. ' _I'm sorry, Hoppo-chan… everyone…'_ She heard the ball fire-

And then, with a loud, electrical crackling, she opened her eye in time to see the ball soar up into the air, an unfamiliar back in front of her. Said back was clad in a leather jacket, dirty blonde hair cascading down the woman's - and it was a woman - back.

And then the woman pulled out the four Soul Gems they'd collected.

"Take them," she said, dropping them next to Nagato. "And figure it out fast, I'm not going to last long."

['I'm not going to last long',] the Abyssal scoffed. [Like you're going to last at a-]

The stranger vanished, reappearing with her boot in the Abyssal's throat. Nagato blinked, and then, ignoring more protests from her aching muscles, hastily swept up the gems, holding them in her hands and probing them with her senses. Yes, there was power here. Lots of it. But how to tap into it?

Well, the Super Nagamon worked, first and foremost, by opening herself up to a source of power within her. No reason it wouldn't work for an external source that apparently was made to be used that way. Closing her eyes, Nagato took a deep breath and dove in.

~o~

The Abyssal growled as she parried another blow from the _latest_ damn newcomer. This woman was fast, and skilled, and hit like an Iowa, but compared to Nagato she was definitely second-rate. Ducking under the next punch, she rammed an uppercut into the woman's solar plexus, nearly bending her double over her fist. And that wasn't even _close_ to her max strength. At least Nagato could take those blows and keep fighting.

[Seriously, why'd you get involved here?] she wondered aloud. [All it means is that you die sooner. Though, given I'm gonna kill everyone, or most everyone, you would've died at some point, so-] She paused as she realized that the woman was still wheezing and unable to draw breath. [Oh, I'm so sorry! I'll be quick. The point is, nothing you did had any impact.]

"Oh yeah?" the woman wheezed, and then suddenly there was a massive burst of power that blew away the trees.

The Abyssal's eyes narrowed. [Nagato.]

Indeed, out from the dust kicked up stepped Nagato, visibly in her Super Nagamon form but with some changes. Lightning coursed through the aura, much like the Abyssal's own; her muscles had visibly gotten bigger; and her eyes were now a blank white.

Worse than the physical changes, though, were the metaphysical ones. It occurred to the Abyssal that she hadn't been paying attention to where the other four power gems had gotten off to, and now she was staring them right in the face. Four power gems to her three, and Nagato had been stronger than her to begin with. The conclusion was obvious.

[Bugger.]

And then her world was _pain._ Blows struck every square inch, from every angle. Her regeneration immediately kicked in, but it couldn't keep up, and it did nothing for the pain that wracked every fiber of her being.

And then… she felt something untether.

~o~

It was an odd feeling, these power gems. Not a whole lot of _thinking_ involved. Even as she rained blows down on the Abyssal, she wasn't really _thinking._ It was all instinct. All the intimate knowledge jammed into her brain and muscles as to how best to damage a human body. Still, that left her free to worry about other things, like the fact that Aso was still the host body for this thing. And to her surprise, Nagato found she didn't really want to kill the troublesome carrier. She'd done terrible things, sure, but did they really merit death? No, not really. Then there was the fact that that wouldn't bring her to justice, and, of course, that killing her and resummoning her like they'd had to do sometimes in the early days would just reset her to her old YAMATO DAMASHII personality. And nobody wanted that.

So she just needed some way to separate the two. Yeah. Easy.

At that sarcastic thought, suddenly a possible method flooded her brain. A method she was kinda already doing by whaling on the Abyssal like this. Still, now she had a course of action, and Nagato immediately put it into action.

While she'd already been using her battle energy to enhance her blows, the next twenty punches were imbued with a specific energy that was inserted into the Abyssal's body with each punch. The result was quite spectacular: what had been a steady jellyfication turned into a _shredding_ , the Abyssal's body flying to pieces. Small sounds of pain escaped its throat, and then it quite literally pulled itself back together. And as it did so, Nagato saw it.

During the debriefings, and the eventual interviews for the history books, Nagato would not be able to say how she did what she did next. All she could say was this:

" _I just… grabbed and pulled."_

And indeed, that's what she did: she grabbed the big bad Abyssal and pulled it right out of Aso. Somehow. Said Abyssal, still holding all three Soul Gems, immediately jumped back and pulled itself back into a humanoid form - though it was hard to take it seriously when it looked like it was made of milk chocolate. Aso, meanwhile, collapsed to the ground, completely nude and also completely unconscious.

[ _you…]_ the Abyssal growled. _**[you will…**_ PAY _for this… I WILL_ **feast…** _UPON_ _ **your entrails…**_ _and-]_

"No," Nagato declared, holding up her hand to charge up a blast. "You're finished."

Screeching in a decidedly non-human voice, the Abyssal suddenly swelled grotesquely. Nagato's eyes widened a fraction, and then she vanished, reappearing behind the Abyssal with the gems in her hand.

For a moment, the beast was still. And then it popped like a balloon. Seeing the mysterious woman that had helped her earlier beating feet away with Aso slung over her shoulder, Nagato rose in the air, looked down, and fired off a blast that scoured away a new crater - as well as any traces of the creature.

Satisfied that the job was done, Nagato floated down - and as soon as her feet touched dirt, she suddenly shuddered and hunched over, eyes wide. It felt like something was trying to escape, trying to claw or burn or-

"Nagato, let go!"

Let go of what? This power? The power that allowed her to protect her loved ones, to crush her enemies and-

Gritting her teeth, Nagato reached in deep and _grabbed_.

' _You will not warp me!'_

And _yanked_.

Something flooded out of her, and Nagato slumped to her knees, the darkness quickly claiming her.

~o~

When Nagato opened her eyes an indeterminate time later, it wasn't after some dream journey or roaring nightmare or anything like that. In fact, it was much like waking up after pulling an all-nighter. Stimulants: not even once! So, the battleship simply blinked up at an unfamiliar ceiling, taking in the sensations of a hospital bed instead of the usual dock baths.

Grunting, she hauled herself to an upright position, complicated by the heavy lump on her legs that turned out to be a sleeping Hoppo-chan. At her bedside was the same woman who had delivered the Soul Gems to her earlier, to whom Nagato sent a questioning glance.

As if sensing the eyes on her, the woman looked up, smiled, and put away the smartphone-like device she had been looking. "Don't worry, you've only been asleep for two days," she answered the unasked question. "Poor Hoppo-chan here just couldn't stay awake." Holding out her hand, she said, "Hello again, Nagato. My name's Akemi."

Nagato took it and shook, accompanied by a raised brow. "What do you mean 'again'?" she asked, before frowning as a thought came to her. "And if I've been out for two days, what about everyone else?"

"Eh, they were given buckets and shoved back into active duty," Akemi replied, rolling her eyes. "I told them it was safe to do it to you, too, but the Soul Gems scared them off or something. Still, I get it. It's one thing hearing what the early days were like, all the madness and the crazy operational tempo, but seeing it is a whole other story."

Suddenly, an idea for what was going on hit Nagato. It was ludicrous… on second thought, considering some of the rules on The List, it wasn't that ludicrous. "You're a time traveller," Nagato said.

"Bingo! And not just me, either. That blob monster, and the Soul Gems, they're all from the future, too. And I'm here to get them back, though I'm not sorry to see that monster destroyed, either."

Nagato mulled that over. "So, are we winning?" she asked.

"Yes," Akemi answered, before grimacing. "Been dicey a few times, though, especially recently. That blob monster was the Director's last-ditch gambit, and it was one hell of a last-ditch gambit. You think it was bad latched onto Aso, imagine it attached to Arizona or the Director herself."

Having fought the Director personally, and knowing of the Empress-class Abyssal kept suppressed within Arizona, Nagato grimaced. Yes, she knew exactly how bad that would be.

"Then the Soul Gems were a tool to combat it, then," she speculated.

Akemi nodded. "Yeah. Don't… ask me how they're made."

Nagato didn't say anything; there was such a profound sadness in Akemi's eyes that it squashed her curiosity.

"Anyway," Akemi continued with somewhat forced cheer. "As I understand it, all that's left to do before I leave is figure out what the hell we're going to do with Truxtun and Aso."

Ah, the frown was back. "Who's Truxtun?"

That comment got Nagato an odd look from Akemi. "Y'know, those two male… actually, I'm still not sure _what_ he is, exactly, but does _that_ jog your memory?"

"Ah, those two… creations of the Director," Nagato said, nodding. "I didn't realize either of them had survived."

"Truxtun was pretty banged up," Akemi admitted. "That's why it's taken two days for Admiral Goto to get around to doing this. Akashi refused to let him leave the docks until just fifteen minutes ago."

~o~

Admiral Goto stared over steepled fingers at the two in front of him. Aso was nervous, fidgeting, and unable to look him in the eye; Truxtun looked happy, eager, and almost excited. The disciplinarian in the Admiral itched to brutally murder that excitement, but it was something he shoved away, given Truxtun wasn't _technically_ under his command.

"Alright, Truxtun, your situation is fairly straightforward," Goto said. "Technically, you're a prisoner of war, which means I just get to hand you off to the Allied Abyssals running our small prisoner pool. The accommodations are fairly palatial, and if my hunches are correct you'll be out within the month."

That "hunch" was due to simple observation of how Truxtun and Akashi acted near each other. It was adorable, and also a golden opportunity to turn the man - if the amenities of the prisoner camp didn't do it first, as it often did with Abyssal prisoners.

To Admiral Goto's delight, Truxtun's face fell a bit at the news. [Well, alright then,] he said, shrugging. [Guess I couldn't expect anything else.]

The easy part done, Goto turned to Aso, who flinched. "Now, your situation is significantly more complicated. On the one hand, I've got these very confirmed charges of kidnapping, AWOL, and dereliction of duty, and that's just off the top of my head." Aso flinched again. "On the other hand, I have Kasagi fairly screaming at me to be lenient, and the strategic reality that we both need every shipgirl we can get, and that there are a number of operations available where an… expendable carrier would be of good use." His gaze hardened. "Understand that, if you _were_ to take those kinds of missions, we would not resummon you. No one has any real desire to deal with your old personality again."

Despite that splash of cold water, Aso was looking at him in hope and wonder, mouth slightly agape. And so, Goto brought out his ace.

"Regardless, those two sides are balancing each other out right now," he stated. "So. Convince me."

Frankly, Goto didn't expect much. Some pathetic denials of any wrongdoing, at which point he could simply have her scrapped and taken off his hands.

"I'm sorry."

A simple apology, laced with considerable regret and heartbreak, was _not_ supposed to be in the cards.

"I just…" Aso shook her head. "No, there's no excuse for anything I did, I see that now. I… this is hard to put in words…"

The carrier fell silent, at least until Truxtun reached over and patted her head. Her retribution was a swift and vicious right straight that thundered into his jaw and knocked him out of the chair and flat on his ass.

[Oh, she's good…] Truxtun groaned from his position on the floor.

"Step on a lego and die, jackass!" Aso screeched.

All that finally jolted Admiral Goto out of his shock, and he immediately pinned Aso with a steely glare.

"Do you mean that?" he said sternly. "Are you willing to commit to atone for what you've done?"

The nervousness that had made a reappearance with Aso vanished at those words, the carrier turning to meet her Admiral. "Yes. Just say the word."

The two stared into each other's eyes for a long, interminable moment. A moment Truxtun promptly ruined with a cry of [Oh, just kiss already, you two!] Grunting in annoyance, Goto looked away and grabbed a file.

"The details are in here, but Vietnam has been screaming for us to forward-deploy some of our naval strength pretty much since this war began," Goto explained. "And don't worry, we're not going to short-change you on escorts. We need this task force to be able to fight."

Aso frowned. "What's the catch, then?"

"The catch," Admiral Goto replied, grinning like a shark that's spotted a bare behind. "Is that you'll be deployed at the new PLAN naval base in Ho Chi Minh city." The grin widened as Aso paled. "And since you're the flagship…"

Goto didn't need to finish the thought. Aso had already connected the dots. "That is evil, sir," she gulped. "And appropriate."

"Do you accept?"

"Yes, sir."

~o~

"I wish him luck, then," Nagato said. "What happens now?"

"You get debriefed, we make sure the Yuubaris don't blow up the planet with those Gems-"

"Surely you're exaggerating."

"I wish," Akemi snorted. "And don't call me Shirley. Anyway, then I'm gonna take those Gems back to the future and you won't see me again for… well, years."

Nagato frowned. "Should you really be sharing this information?"

"This kind of time travel is the 'branching timelines' kind, it's fine," Akemi said dismissively.

"I see," Nagato lied. "Well, all I'll say is that you're missing one last, very important step, Akemi."

Akemi blinked, then frowned in thought. "I think I got everything…"

A chuckle, and then Nagato slapped Akemi's hand.

"Go see Enterprise and Yamato and baby Yoshino," she said, prompting the time-traveller's mouth to unhinge. "Yes, I could tell. The hair color, the sturdiness, that inability to stay out of a world-ending situation…"

"Please stop talking, Nagato," Akemi said, blushing lightly. "You've made your point." Sighing, she stood, and silently left, leaving Nagato to her thoughts.

[Mama…?]

Scratch that, her thoughts and a sleepy and utterly adorable Hoppo.

~o~

On a house a ways from the naval base, a blonde-haired woman sat in a rocking chair set on the front porch, humming and stroking the head of a small baby curled up in her lap as she rocked back and forth.

Footsteps on the concrete sidewalk drifted to her ears, and she looked up to see a young woman poking her head around the outside wall, exposing auburn hair and half a face that was achingly familiar.

"Hello?" she called out, getting a flinch from the stranger. "Can I help you?"

The woman withdrew, and then stepped out fully, shifting from foot to foot. A long silence descended upon them. And then…

"H-Hello, mom…"


End file.
